


God of the Wild

by Script_the_Skeleton



Series: Hyrules Across the Ages [3]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Bonding, Death, F/M, Family, Found Family, descriptions of injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:28:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22058563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Script_the_Skeleton/pseuds/Script_the_Skeleton
Summary: Wild just learned he was a god, and now must remember his powers and find his parents.LinkedUniverse One-shot that could be read alone or after chapter 29 of In an Era, my one-shot collection and the story that was about demigod Links.
Relationships: Wild (Linked Universe)/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Series: Hyrules Across the Ages [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1308371
Comments: 14
Kudos: 243





	God of the Wild

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y’all like it, thanks to discord for seeing me through the past three days of writing this.

“Link,” Malanya cooed, “you better hope I don’t find you, or I’ll snatch you up and never let you go!”

A giggle escaped a young boy’s mouth, giving away his hiding spot under the staircase of the fairy fountain. This was Link, barely able to walk or speak, but had traveled farther than most people in Hyrule could claim. 

“Got you!” He snatched up the boy and held him up by the scruff of his shirt, floating him in front of his face.

“Again, again!” Link cheered. 

Malanya waved his finger, “uh-un, you know the rules. Now you’ll never leave!”

Link shrieked as the gigantic figure started to hug and tickle him. 

“Ma! Ma!” He tried to escape, but ended up just laughing. 

“What’s that?” Malanya teased, “begging for mercy? Well, alright, Little Foal.”

The god set down the child just as a twilit light spooled at the base of the fountain. The light revealed a small wolf cub that was almost entirely black, except for a small patch of white here or there. The wolf tried to look menacing, standing strong and howling, but it only managed to shakily stand and let out a small bark. 

Malanya sighed, “time to go back already? Well, Little Foal, time to run make to your father.”

“When we come back?” Link spoke slowly, trying to piece together the right words. 

“You’ll be back before you know it,” he waved them goodbye, “and I have a gift for you the next time you come! Take care of him, Wolf.”

The wolf glared at the patronizing tone. He trotted over to the waddling child and let him use him as support. 

“Wolfie!” Link chirped and looked to the god, “bye, Ma!”

Malanya smiled as they disappeared into shadows.

-

“Wild? Wild!” Someone was snapping their fingers in his face, “snap out of it!”

Wild jutted out of his trance and blinked wildly at his surroundings. He quickly remembered who he was and why he was there. 

He was Wild, who before now thought himself as a mortal and nothing more, and he just told his friends that he was a god. He was the son of Satori and Malanya, beings he had met before, though he never knew of their relation to him. He had ran, seeing Legend’s angered expression, but was soon caught and brought back to the inn to be interrogated. 

Legend was the one snapping, annoyed that, as soon as they brought back Wild, he went into a memory. He was never that good with those situations and Twilight was asleep in the other room. 

“How did you forget you were a god?” He asked, bewildered. 

Wild shrugged, “no one ever mentioned it in my memories, and I am not exactly the basis for a normal person, so I didn’t know the stuff I was doing was weird.”

“So,” Wind grinned, “what can you do? Are you immortal? Can you control animals? Is it connected to your slate thing?”

Once again, Wild shrugged. 

Four sighed, “how about this, you tell us stuff you’ve done before and we’ll tell you if that’s something anything less than a god couldn’t survive.”

Wild nodded, “uh, fall five hundred feet and live?”

Four’s eyed widened, “yes, that is not normal!”

“Anything I pick regrows in the exact same way. I assumed that was the blood moon, but it’s still happening.”

“Not normal,” Four declared, “unless you count grass or pots being replaced.”

“Slowing down time for me and no one else?”

“Why? Since when?!” Hyrule stuttered out. 

Wild looked confused, “I do it all the time in battle. Do you seriously not notice?”

“You use no items to do this?” Time asked and received a shaking head, “that is not something a Hylian could do alone.”

“Ride any animal by soothing it repeatably?”

“Define any animal.”

“Horse, skeleton horse, deer, bear, maybe a lynel.”

“That’s fifty-fifty. Calming a bear is special, but you are crazy enough to do that through sheer will.”

“Stop a lynel in its tracks with just a shield?”

“You broke your arm right? Wild?!”

“Break all my weapons?”

“If that isn’t because you have too much power for the weapons to handle I will go insane.”

It went on like that for an hour. Wild said some weird shenanigans that he could do regularly and the others would assure that that is not normal, what the hell, Wild? No one stopped them until Twilight woke up. 

“Stop interrogating him,” he demanded as he walked into the room, “Wild, who else knows about you?”

He fidgeted, “Zelda was the one to tell me, other than that…I don’t know. Impa might, but I just assume she knows everything about me.”

“Are your…parents still around for you to ask them? They’d be the best help for any of your questions.”

Wild was about to answer when he spotted something outside of the window. It was a blupee waving at him. It then stood still on its hind legs and tilted its head. 

“Y-yes,” he breathed heavily, “I know where they are: Satori Mountain and Malanya Spring.”

Legend crossed his arms, “well, that’s convenient.”

Twilight hushed him, “do you want to go?”

“Y-y-y-“ Wild’s eyes went blank as he watched the blupee run away.

-

“You have returned,” the Lord of the Mountain would’ve smiled if he could have, “did you have fun, Son?”

“Yeah!” Link picked up Wolfie against his will and hugged/strangled him, “we play hide-seek.”

“That is great,” Satori moved near his child and let him play with his tail. Link set down Wolfie to do this and the wolf gladly laid down. Most children would be afraid of how Satori looked, but Link would never be afraid of his father. “Did your father treat you well?”

He nodded, “uh-huh! Ma said he had present for next time.”

Satori huffed, “he has been planning that gift since you were born. I am sure you will like it. Now, go play with your brothers, some Hylians have been poking around the pond and I do not want them to see us.”

“Okay, Dad,” Link stumbled over to where a pact of blupees, his older brothers, were excitedly waiting for his return. They went into the bog, a place where no Hylians liked to go, and played tag. 

Link was happy. 

-

When Wild returned, everyone was gone except Twilight. The blupee was also gone from the window. 

“Twice in one day?” Twilight smiled weakly, “I hope they were good memories.”

Wild gave a half smile in return, “they were of my parents. And of... an old friend.”

He had learned a long time ago that Twilight recalled nothing of his time spent with him on his adventure. He avoided talking about the strikingly familiar wolf that was apparently with him before he forgot everything and the reason he knew of Twilight’s secret. Maybe one day he would find out why Wolfie was with him forever, or if they were even the same person. 

“That’s good. Are you ready to go?” Twilight offered his hand, “the others packed up everything while you were out of it and are waiting outside.”

Wild nodded, “yeah. It should take a couple days to reach the spring, and then a couple more for the mountain.”

“Why do they live so far away from each other?”

He shrugged, “from what I know from this life, they both have their domains. Malanya is akin to a Great Fairy and they can’t leave their fountains, but Satori can leave the mountain, he just doesn’t often.”

“Are you nervous to see them again, now that you know?” Twilight opened the door and told the others that they were ready to leave. 

“No,” Wild lied with a smile, “courage and all that.”

Twilight didn’t believe him, but he also didn’t push it.

They walked for a day and made it passed Dueling Peaks. They decided to stop at the nearest stable and rest for the night. But, while everyone slept, Wild couldn’t. Instead, he went outside and sat by the stables. He patted one of his horses, a blue one with white spots that he named Blueberry, and looked at the ruins of Castletown. 

They weren’t ruins so much anymore. Bolson and Co. were charged by Zelda to rebuild the once great city and they were well on their way. It seemed that they were keeping the old blue roofs that Hylians seemed to like. 

He stared at one house in particular. It was two stories and was right next to a new watchtower. It was one of the more stable foundations that survived, so that’s why Bolson was building it to be so grand. 

Heh, he thought, wonder who used to live there. He didn’t know much of those who lived in Castletown, or the people who worked there. Did he know them?

He tried to push away the thoughts as soon as they came. He didn’t like thinking about Castletown. He wasn’t even sure that when it was finished being built that he would visit. He was sure Zelda felt the same. 

It was too late, though. He stared at the blue roofing, with a single Hylian crest flag, and fell into another flashback.

-

Link was hiding in a hollowed out log from his brothers when it happened. He heard his father roar and his magic flaring out before silencing. He could also hear the barks of Wolfie. His brothers ran away and teleported into nothingness to protect themselves. 

“Wait!” Link peeked out of the tree stump, “why you leave!?”

He couldn’t use magic like his brothers, not yet anyway. He sat down in the log and concentrated. He could do it, Dad and Ma told him he could probably do anything they could do and more, so he could teleport. Right?

He huffed and puffed, but nothing happened. 

The mountain was eerily silent. His father’s presence had vanished, leaving all wildlife unprotected, so they quieted in fear. Link whimpered. 

“Dad?” He whispered, “Wolfie? I’m scared.”

“Did you hear something?” A new voice spoke up from somewhere near him. It was gruff and seemed harsh. 

Link’s entire body froze and he couldn’t move. Were there Hylians on the mountain after all? They weren’t supposed to be there. 

“Maybe a wild animal,” another voice, less gruff than the first, “nothing important.”

“That is exactly why we are here!” The first voice snarled, “this mountain is said to have mythical creatures that can heal any sickness or bring luck.”

“Didn’t mention the lynel that lived here when we got the assignment,” the second voice complained, “we need to finish fast before it returns.”

“You have no loyalty to the crown, just your own preservation. Do you wish the Queen dead?”

“No! I just know when it’s suicide to fight a lynel on its home turf.”

“Shut up and get looking.”

Link shivered, what were they saying? He couldn’t understand them. Why were they moving closer to him? Their footprints traveling all around the bog. Where was Dad and Wolfie?

There were some shifting in the leaves in front of his log and Wolfie popped out. He looked a little worse for wear, hair all mangled and covered in mud, but he was alright. 

“Wolfie!” Link nearly shouted before shutting up. 

“There it is again!” The first voice proclaimed. 

“I heard it, too,” the second voice agreed, “it came from this log.”

Link didn’t know their language, but he could tell they were coming straight for him. Wolfie huddled near and prepared to teleport them away from danger, he just needed to store up power an-

“There’s a child!” The second voice gasped and Link looked up to see a man with a blue hat looking down at him. He screamed.

“Woah!” The man backed away and called his colleague over. Link scrambled away with Wolfie in his arms, but he didn’t make it far. The first voice, another man in a hat and armor, grabbed and picked him up. Link dropped Wolfie, who started biting the man’s ankles. 

“Let go!” Link cried. The Hylians didn’t understand, to them his words sounded like the chirps and hoots of an owl. 

“Stupid mutt!” The man kicked the the wolf pup away into a rock and Link screamed again. 

“Wolfie!” He reached out for his friend, who was now lying still on the ground. “Let go!”

“Must’ve been raised by monsters,” the second man looked around, “that or abandoned.”

There was a sudden roar and a blue light shot out from the tip of the mountain. 

“Dad!” Link tried to shout, but his voice wouldn’t carry that far. 

“The lynel!” The second man started scramble, “there is nothing on this mountain except that thing, so there is no reason to stay any longer.”

The first man nodded, “right, we need to report to the King that the stories are false.”

The men started to run off the mountain, Link still in one of their’s grasp. He punched with his weak arms at the man’s chest, but he ignored them. 

“What are we doing with him?” The second man raised an eyebrow. 

The first man frowned, “I do not know, but we cannot leave him on that mountain.”

“Dad!” 

The man looked at link and pointed to a cloth that he had on his shoulder. It was light blue and had the image of a bird with three triangles. 

“This means you’re safe,” he tried to assure the child, “we’re knights.”

His voice became less gruff, calming Link down a little bit. Link looked back up at the mountain and saw Wolfie awake once more and scaling down. 

“Wolfie!”

The men ignored him for a short time as they reached their horses. They looked like the horses that his Ma would bring back for some travelers who prayed, as they were decked out in armor and had saddles. The men got on their steeds, the first one placing Link in front of him and ran off. 

Link stared helplessly as Wolfie tried to catch up with them, but couldn’t. 

-

The next morning he tried to push away the memories. All would be explained once he saw his parents again…hopefully. Twilight noticed the bags under his eyes. 

“You okay?” He asked and received a nod. 

“So,” Wild told the group, “we’ll be heading across Lake Hylia, then you guys will wait at Highland Stable. Malanya is right across from there.”

He got some huffs of agreement. 

“You know,” he was hesitant to point out, “you guys are really nonchalant about all of this.”

Legend snorted, “this isn’t even in my top five of weirdest things I’ve seen. Talk to me when you can create a whole country with your powers.”

“Besides,” Sky spoke up, “you’re still our Wild. When I learned Zelda was Hylia, I didn’t treat her any different.”

“Thanks, guys.”

Wild split his five horses between the group. Blueberry would go to Wind and Four. Warriors was the only one willing to ride his abnormally large horse, who was named Cinnamon. Time rode with Sky on a pure black horse named Blackberi, since Sky had never ridden on a horse before. Hyrule and Legend got their own horses named Chocolate and Salt. Twilight called Epona and Wild took his cycle, so neither of them needed one. 

“You tamed everyone of these?” Warriors asked once they were on the road, struggling to control Cinnamon. 

“Yeah,” Wild nodded, “Cinnamon was a pain, but he was worth it. I take him into battle when I need to and he seems to like it.”

“Is this because your parent is the god of horses?” Four thought it through, “you said you could tame anything, especially horses.”

“Probably.”

“Did you intentionally give me the horse named Salt?” Legend glared. 

Wild smirked, giving his friend his answer and everyone laughed. They moved farther down the trail over the following hours. After they made it past Lake Hylia, Wild started to branch off from the others. His bike was faster than any of their horses, he was just going slow for direction sake. 

“Down there is the stable,” he pointed, “just check in the horses and say I sent you with them so they know you didn’t steal them. I’ll be back in an hour.”

“Be careful,” Twilight warned. 

Careful, him? Never. 

Wild waved them goodbye and sped past the stable and over the bridge. He stopped just short of being in sight of the fountain and dismounted.

He started to shake. Why was he so nervous? He had met Malanya before, and he was way scarier then when he was there because of accidentally killing a horse. 

But he was never here with the knowledge that he was his father. Why did he never bring it up all the times he visited? It’s not like they didn’t talk. 

He couldn’t do this! He got cold feet and tried to get back on his cycle when someone called out to him. 

“I know you are there, little Hero,” Malanya called out, “are you afraid of me? Did you kill another friend? If you did, I will have to smite you!…I jest!”

He could hear the god’s laughter echo around the spring. He couldn’t leave now that he knew he was there. Slowly, he came into view of the fountain, where Malanya was waiting. He walked up onto the mushroom platform and spoke. 

“H-hi,” he waved awkwardly. 

“Hi?” The god questioned, “you vanish from this plane of existence for months and then you cone back and say hi?”

“How did you know I left this world?” Wild asked, taken aback. 

“I am an god!” Malanya cried, “do you think I didn’t notice the lack of care for your horses! You better not let them fall to harm by those you gave them to just now, or you’ll have to pay!…I jest!”

Wild relaxed a bit, “my friends will take care of my horses, and the stables are perfectly capable of caring for them, too.”

“Hm,” he settled down, “so, why are you here? Which ever loyal horse will I bring back?”

“About that,” Wild looked down, “after I came back from where I’ve been. I learned something...”

Malanya leaned forward, expecting him to say something more. When he didn’t, he got annoyed. 

“You learned what?” He huffed, “how to not communicate?”

Wild clenched his fist, “Zelda told me and then I remembered. What I’m trying to…I want to…”

It was hard to say. The way the god hid behind his mask was starting to unnerve him. What was he thinking at this moment? Was he disappointed in what his son had become? A bumbling mess that couldn’t take care of a horse for more than ten minutes. 

He decided to jumped into the deep end. He looked up and forced a smile onto his face. He waved. 

“Hey, Ma.”

Malanya froze, his floating hands dropping into the water and his masked stopped shaking. For a moment, Wild thought he stopped time again. 

“I’m s-sorry,” he stuttered, “I only learned a couple days ago and I r-remember very l-little. I k-know I should-I shouldn’t’ve forgotten, and-and I did…”

“Oh, Little Foal,” Malanya reanimated, “I’m so happy you’re back.”

Carefully, the god picked up Wild and hugged him to his face. It reminded Wild a little bit of what the Great Fairies would do, but more lovingly and caring. 

“I was afraid you would never remember me,” he admitted, setting his son down, “but I was content seeing you happy with your horses I brought back.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Wild asked, “that might have started my memories of you.”

“Or you would think I was more crazy than you already did,” if he could have been, he would have been glaring, “you didn’t trust me after you woke up. You needed someone like Zelda to tell you.”

“I didn’t think you were crazy,” Wild lied. 

“Don’t lie to your father.”

“…yes, Ma,” he smiled.

“Now, sit down! There is so much to catch up on.”

Wild did so and they talked. Wild explained about of his friends and what their mission was. 

“You would like Time,” he said, “he works on a ranch and has a lot of horses. He has one that went on his adventure with him that he takes very good care of. Same for Twilight.”

“I would love to meet them,” the god nodded, “and judge their ways myself! So, what all do you remember?”

He frowned, “not much, I remember playing here as a kid and on the mountain with Dad. And then I remember being taken away by some knights.”

Malanya sunk, “I remember that day. It was terrible for us! Your father told me that those knights were looking for something to cure the Queen of her recurring illness, and they went to the mountain looking for it. They thought he was a lynel and attacked him. You know how he is when Hylians get too close.”

Wild nodded. He didn’t remember it, but he did see how Satori could only appear physically for a short time and contact with others caused him to flee. 

“They found you and thought you of some stray,” he continued, “they took you away to their Castletown and one of them raised you as their own.”

“Did I ever try to come back?” Wild questioned, “I know I was very little-“

“You never stopped,” the god waved away the concern, “apparently you were a nightmare for the family that adopted you, as you kept trying to run away. You never made it far until you were 10, when you visited us for the first time since you were taken. I don’t know what your father said, but I told you it was alright for you to live with your new family.”

“Why?”

“You seemed to care for them,” he sneered, “but I pushed my hatred away from them taking you since you were happy and in far better conditions than living in the wild. I only made you promise that you had to visit often and if they ever wronged you, I would make them pay.”

Even though he laughed, Wild could tell he was serious. 

“I remember Wolfie being there,” Wild changed the subject, “how?”

Malanya hummed, “you’ll have to ask your father for that one. The wolf was a special thing that I questioned and never got an answer to.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway,” he flicked his son on the nose, almost knocking him over, “now that you remember, I expect more visits and far less horse death.”

“Of course,” Wild agreed, “I just might be busy for a little while longer. My friends need me right now.”

Malanya ruffled his hair, “always the hero, Little Foal. That reminds me, I never got to give you your present. It’s late, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”

The god snapped his fingers and Wild heard a noise from behind him. It sounded like wind blowing and neighing. He turned around and saw a beautiful mare with chestnut fur and a pure white mane. 

“I know you have other horses,” Malanya explained, “but nothing can compare to Epona’s strength and speed. A mount worthy of my son.”

“T-thank you,” he managed to stumble out before going into another trance.

-

“Amaryll!” Link called from the field. 

He was now an 11-year-old boy and was more tamed than he was when he was found. He had to be taught Hylian script and speech, but he never forgot his native language of the wild, and how to dress properly. Right now he was wearing a shirt with a vest over it and some pants. His adoptive father said he needed to look nice, being the son of a Royal Guardsman. That didn’t stop him from messing around. 

“What?!” Amaryll, his adoptive younger sister called from the entrance of the town. She was nine and didn’t know that he was adopted. 

“Race you to the Sacred Grounds!” He teased and was already running. 

“That’s forbidden!” She complained, running after him anyway, “daddy said we couldn’t go there without permission.” 

“Wolfie’s keeping watch,” Link laughed, “I dare anyone to try and get past him.”

Soon after the knight claimed Link as his own, Wolfie showed up and refused to leave. He recognized that the family wasn’t a threat, but he had to be near Link at all times. There was a standstill between the knight and Wolfie, neither wanting the other there. Though, Wolfie was allowed to stay eventually. 

The family admitted something was strange about the wolf. Normally, wolves lived a few years, yet this one showed no signs of aging or death. Strangely, it was as if the wolf aged along with Link, going from a pup to looking only a year old. He was energetic where he should have been slowing down. 

Link came to be known as the Wild Child anywhere he went. They lived in Hateno and the residents watched as the boy and his wolf would do the strangest things. It was even worse when Amaryll started to play with them. Still, everyone loved him as he was nice and none of his adventures affected anyone but himself. 

They were in Castletown because of the increasing doom of the Calamity striking once more. All guards were called to try and pull Master Sword along with their families. No one in his family except the father could even attempt, but he brought them there anyway, in case something happened.

Link didn’t worry much about the Calamity. He was a god and, even though he hadn’t unlocked any of his powers, he was sure he could protect those he cared about. It’s not like he could die from whatever would happen. 

He made it to the Sacred Grounds moments before Amaryll and cheered. She showed up and stomped her foot. 

“No fair!” She cried, “you started before me.”

“It was just strategic planning,” Link smirked, “father says that it is best to not let your enemy know your plans of attack.”

“Daddy also says don’t be mean!” She punched him in the stomach as he laughed. 

She calmed down eventually and they started playing around the Sacred Grounds. They only stopped when they heard a wolf howl. 

Link put his hand out, “that’s Wolfie, someone’s coming.”

Link scrambled into one of the tall trees and Amaryll hid under one of the bridges that connected the Sacred Grounds to the path. They were silent as a horse trotted to just before the path ended. 

“Link, Amaryll,” it was their father, Sir Leon of Hateno, and he sounded tired, “are you here?”

“No!” Amaryll answered instinctively before hushing. 

Leon sighed, “something’s happened, I won’t be mad that you broke the rules, just come out.”

Link never heard him be that sad before. He did as was told and fell out of the tree. He brushed himself off and walked up to his father and Amaryll got out of the gutter, wet from the waist down. 

“What is it, daddy?” She asked, rocking back and forth, “did someone pull the sword?”

He shook his head and got off the horse. He kneeled down in front of his children and took their hands. 

“It’s,” he tried to put on a stoic facade, but failed, “it’s your mother...”

Link stood still as Leon told them what happened. He could only make a few words here or there. 

“Sickness, Queen.” She had the same disease as the Queen who had died all those years ago. 

“Hidden, secret.” She had been sick for quite a while and they didn’t tell them. 

“Peaceful.” She died in her sleep, right next to her husband. 

“No,” Link let out, “no!”

She couldn’t be dead. His mother, Lady Eliza of Hateno, couldn’t just be gone. She was the one who taught him how to speak Hylian, she was the one who convinced Leon to let Wolfie stay. She was dead!

And it was all his fault. He was a god pretending to be Hylian and he should’ve been able to save her. Weren’t gods all powerful? Shouldn’t he have known and done something? Shouldn’t there be away to bring her back…?

Link didn’t register Leon hugging him and Amaryll. His sister was crying immensely while he stood still. He had to get away, he had to save his mother.

He pushed away from Leon and whistled. Wolfie bursted into the Sacred Grounds and noticed his distress immediately. 

“Link, no!” Leon reached out to him, “you cannot run away from this.”

Link backed up, shaking his head, “I’ll fix this. I promise.”

“Link!” “B-big brother?”

They called out to him as he hopped on Wolfie and ran. While he looked one, Wolfie was the size of a horse and could carry anyone for a short time. He didn’t like it, but he would do it in times of need. 

“Go to Ma’s,” Link whispered, “as fast as you can.”

Wolfie pushed harder, running faster than even Satori. They zipped past Lake Hylia and the stable in half a days travel compared to the two days travel it would take walking. Wolfie collapsed once they made it to the spring.

“Ma!” Link stumbled to the mushroom platform. 

“Link?” Malanya formed from the spring and looked at his son, “what happened?”

“M-mother,” he sniffed, “Eliza, she’s-“

He broke down into tears. The only reason he hadn’t been already crying was that the wind from running stopped any tears from coming out. The god understood. 

“I am so sorry, Little Foal,” he sunk deeper into the pond so that he wasn’t looming over him, “she sounded like a wonderful woman.”

“Can you, can,” Link looked up, “you can bring back horses, can you bring back her?”

Malanya froze, “Link, horses are not the same as Hylians. They are under the domain of Hylia herself-“

“Then ask her!” He demanded, “you’re a god, so why can’t you?”

“Hylia has closed herself off,” Malanya explained, “no one can reach her. I’m sorry, but there is nothing anyone could do. She’s gone.”

“S-she can’t be,” Link shook his head, “there has to be something I can do!”

His clutched his head and curled up into a ball. What could he do? What could he do? What could he do? What could he do? What could he do?!

Hylia controlled the Hylians, she could bring her back. How was he to talk to Hylia? The stories he was told was that she spoke only to the Princess or her Hero. The Princess infamously couldn’t hear her, though. That just left the Hero, who hadn’t yet been found. 

But the Master Sword has…Whoever pulled the sword is titled Hylia’s Champion, they could speak with her. 

Link took a deep breath and wiped away his tears. He put on a stoic expression that he had seen on Leon’s face all the time. 

“Ma,” he said fiercely, “I need your fastest horse. I’ll return them as soon as I am done.”

“Why?” Malanya questioned, “Link, you should be heading back home, your sister needs you and you need her.”

“That is where I am going,” he lied, “please.”

His father snapped his fingers and a chestnut colored horse appeared. He barely looked at it as he mounted and gave thanks. Wolfie started to stand up, but collapsed again, too tired to move. 

“Stay,” he told the wolf and started to gallop away. 

“Be careful, Little Foal,” Malanya disappeared back into his fountain.

Link pushed the horse. She was a fast one, going twice the speed as Wolfie, but it would still take a day to get where he was going. He took a short detour around Hyrule Field so that no one would see and recognize him. 

After a day and a half of no sleep, food, or water, Link should’ve been collapsing at any moment, but he stood strong. He didn’t need the necessities as much as normal people, he could go weeks without eating if he really needed to. 

He made it up to a Hylian camp when it was night time. He said goodbye to the horse, patting it on the side, and sent it back to his father’s. He needed to sneak his way around all the soldiers to make it to the Lost Woods. 

He hid in the trees and stopped anytime a guard looked his direction. It took a short amount of time to make it to the entrance of the woods. 

He walked in and took notice of all of the fog that situated itself in the trees. He heard some giggles of childish laughter and some bells ringing. The koroks were near, he knew. 

He ignored the laughter and walked through the woods. Where he should’ve gotten lost, he pushed forward. The fog would try to settle on him, but he would just shake it off and continue towards the tall cherry blossom tree. 

He finally made it to a clearing and saw a light shining down upon the Master Sword. Koroks were all around him, vanishing the moment he turned his head. The Deku Tree stood still, probably not aware of what he was trying to do. 

Link had met the Deku Tree before, and that’s how he knew where the sword was. The Deku Tree only knew him as a young god who wasn’t concerned with the Calamity, so why would he be the one to pull the Blade of Evil’s Bane?

Without pausing for thought, Link marched up to the Master Sword and placed his hands onto its hilt. He looked out and saw that the light source was the midnight moon. 

He laughed sadly, it being past midnight made it his birthday. He was 12. 

He pulled the sword up, it sliding out like it wasn’t embedded in stone, and lifted the blade skyward. He had done it, him pulling the sword signified him as the Hero of Hyrule. 

But there was no fanfare, no great burst of light. Nothing changed except his right arm was now weighed down. 

And he didn’t hear Hylia’s voice.

-

Wild stumbled back, that was his longest memory yet and it wasn’t a happy one. His breathing became uneasy as he processed what he learned. 

He had a sister, she would’ve been 14 when the Calamity struck. He had another father, the knight who took him away, he was strict, but cared immensely for him. He had a mother, one he loved, yet he didn’t even know what she looked like

Amaryll, Leon, and Eliza. His family that was now gone. 

“Thank you,” he repeated, trying to ignore the questioning look from his father, and lied, “I just remembered first riding her. I was going to the Lost Woods for some reason. She’s really fast.”

Malanya nodded, “that she is. You better take good care of her, and you, I don’t want you to come here ever again on that insane contraption!”

“You mean the Master Cycle?” Link walked to Epona, patting her mane. 

“An evil abomination that dares look like the majesty that is a horse, bah!” Malanya sneered, “I wished to have words with the Sheikah who built it and tear them limb from limb!…I jest!”

“Bye, Ma,” he snorted and mounted his horse, “I’m heading to Dad’s to see him.”

“Take care,” the god waved, “I’m happy you are remembering, Little Foal.”

“Yeah,” he frowned when he was turned away from him, “me, too.”

Wild didn’t push Epona as hard as he did 100 years ago. Instead, he wanted to get to know how to make her comfortable, since that probably wasn’t a fun time for her. 

“Sorry about last time,” he smiled weakly, “I was in a rush. I promise not to push you like that ever again.”

Epona huffed and nodded her head. Wild took that has acceptance. 

“This is going to get confusing,” Wild said as the stable came into sight, “we already have an Epona traveling with us, and there’s another we visit frequently. Would you be okay with a nickname?”

She neighed and shook her head. 

“Guess not,” he gave a genuine laugh, “I’ll tell Twilight that since a god named you, there’s nothing we can do. He’ll have to give a nickname to his Epona.”

He brushed her mane. Malanya was right, horses were better than people.

“Cub!” Twilight was the first to spot him as he made it to the stable, “how’d it go?”

He smiled, “good. Me and Ma talked and I’m starting to understand where I came from now. It’s still a little hard to believe that he’s been here the whole time and didn’t tell me, though.”

“Understandable,” Twilight looked at the horse, “who’s this?”

“Ma doesn’t like my cycle, so he gave me Epona here,” Wild explained, taking joy seeing the confusion in Twilight’s eyes at the name, “she’s the fastest thing the god of horses could make.”

“Cub?”

“Yes, Twilight?”

“Please tell me that your horse is not actually named Epona.”

“Honestly, did you expect anything else?”

They again stayed the night at the stable. Once more, Wild didn’t fall asleep and stayed outside. This time it was because the stable only housed five horses at a time and he wanted to get closer with Epona. Besides, the only downside to not sleeping was bags under his eyes, but his energy never depleted. 

In the morning, he was going to wake up everyone when he made the mistake of looking at Sky’s bed. The Master Sword was laying beside him and it reminded Wild of the reason he pulled the sword in the first place. 

Wild shivered at how silent it was that night. The way it was described to him, pulling the sword was a beautiful thing, not whatever that was. 

What did he even do after getting the sword?

He wanted to punch himself as he froze in place and let yet another memory wash over him. 

-

Link marched right into the throne room. No one bothered to stop him on account of the snarling wolf that trailed behind him. All the soldiers just pointed at the Master Sword in his hand and let him passed. 

“Who are you?” The King sat atop his throne, too far away to see what the boy was holding with his failing vision, “how dare you come in here announced!”

“Father,” Link’s attention was drawn to the girl standing behind the King, she had no throne to sit in, it was the Princess, “he has the Sword that Seals the Darkness.”

The sword that s- how many names did this sword have? It didn’t matter, it was his now and he had to play hero. He was going to make Hylia listen to him. 

He placed the sword on the ground and kneeled. Wolfie sat on his hind legs beside him. 

“My word,” the King leaned forward, “boy, who are you? Speak up!”

Link didn’t move or even open his mouth. He didn’t need to talk to anyone but Hylia. 

“Your Majesty, your Highness,” a Royal Guardsman bowed, “if I may, this is Sir Leon’s son Link.”

“The boy who’s been missing for two days?” The King asked. 

The guard nodded, “Sir Leon has not seen him since he was told of his mother’s death.”

“And fate brought him to his destiny it seems,” the King smiled. 

Link bit the inside of his cheek. Was he seriously suggesting that the death of his mother was a good thing? He already didn’t like him. 

“Father,” the Princess seemed to agree, “perhaps we should bring this to a more private room. He did just lo-“

“Zelda,” he snapped, “you are late for your prayers.”

“B-but,” she stuttered, “you said I had none scheduled today. You wanted me to oversee your duties.”

“Change of plans,” he gestured for a guard to guide her out, “now that the bearer of the Master Sword has been found, it is crucial you master your powers.”

“Yes, father,” she bowed her head and left through a back door. Link barely raised his head to see her glaring at him. Though, she could have been glaring at the sword.

“Rise, Sir Link, Son of Leon.” Sir? Since when was he a sir? He did as commanded, showing no emotion as he rose. Wolfie also stood. Altogether, it gave the 12-year-old boy an aura of power. “Have you been taught in the ways of the sword?”

He nodded. 

“Are you aware of what it means to pull the Master Sword?”

He nodded. 

“Do you have any questions?”

He shook his head. 

“A silent one,” the King leaned back down in his chair, “someone summon Sir Leon and someone else order the leaders of the five tribes to come here as soon as they can.”

A guard left the room and some servants too. Another guard walked up to Link, walking in an arc away from Wolfie. 

“Sir Link,” he bowed, “follow me.”

Why were they acting like he was different? He’d done nothing yet. 

Link followed the guard, who led him to a separate room with an elaborate dining table. He was told to sit down and was left alone. He did not sit. 

After a couple minutes of silence, he heard noise coming from the opposite door he came in from. There was muffled arguing. 

“Sir Leon,” someone begged, “you don’t understand! Your son-“

“Is my son in here?” It was Leon. 

“Yes, but-“

“Then I don’t care what comes after!” Leon burst down the door and spotted Link. The guard behind him looked on helplessly as he ran to hug his son. “Link, you’re okay. Thank Hylia!”

Thank her when she does something, Link growled in his mind. 

“Where have you been?” He released the hug and only just noticed the Master Sword, still clutched tightly in his son’s hand, “Link, no...”

“I will fix it,” Link declared and that was the last thing he would say for nearly four years. 

“You don’t have to fix anything,” Leon placed his hand on the back of his head, “it should not have been you.”

“Sir Leon, Sir Link,” the guard walked over, “the King is asking for you.”

“The King?” Leon frowned before looking Link in the eyes, “Sir Link?”

“We shouldn’t keep him waiting.”

Leon nodded, “of course not. It is our duty to serve him and the Princess. Link, are you ready for this?”

Link said and did nothing, only walking ahead to the door. 

-

Wild grabbed his head. So many memories coming back in such a short time was starting to give him a headache. 

Why he really that bitter about Hylia? After waking up, he spoke to her frequently through the use of her statues and she did nothing but help him. What happened back then for her to go completely silent to both of her chosen?

“Sir, Link?” He jumped at being addressed before seeing that it was the stable staff, “are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he lied, “vertigo, had to stay still to make it stop.”

“Alright, don’t push yourself, y’hear?”

He nodded and went to wake up the other Links. While doing that, he thought more of his memories. 

What happened for the next four years? He only became Zelda’s knight at 16, so did he just train that whole time? What did Amaryll think of him, what did his father? 

What would have his mother thought? He still didn’t know her face. 

“Rise and shine!” He shoved Legend out of the bed for fun. 

“Screw you!” Legend complained from the floor.

“It’ll be another two days trip,” Wild told them after they all were up and Legend stopped whining, “then I’m ditching you at Outskirt Stable. Getting to and from Satori Mountain will take a day for me, so you’ll have to find something to entertain yourselves.”

There were some groans of complaint. He heard someone mention how there was nothing to do at the stables. 

“You can groom the horses,” he joked, “Ma’s been going on about how the stables don’t take good enough care of them.”

“No,” Legend glared at Salt the horse, “this one is crazy.”

“Say that about Zelda’s horse again and she will attack you in your sleep. This is her last connection to 100 years ago.”

“And you’re letting me ride it?” He looked at the white horse, “why did you name it Salt?”

“Because I have future vision and predicted that you would one day ride this horse, so I named it something to annoy you.”

Legend sneered, “seriously? That one of your powers?”

“I jest!” He petted Salt, “I got him after selling a bunch of salt, so salt was on my mind. The same thing’s true for the rest of the horses.”

“What about Blackberi?” Sky looked at his and Time’s horse, “are blackberries even native to your Hyrule?”

Wild shrugged, “don’t know, but nightshade berries that are black that I accidentally ate are definitely native. Blackberi found me throwing up and nearly falling into a river. He brought me to the stable where I got better.”

“That was a dumb thing to do,” Twilight poked him. 

“Hey, no one stopped me and I didn’t know!” Someone did try to stop him. Wolfie just didn’t have opposable thumbs. 

“Can you even die?” Four asked, “I know you were close to death before you were put in the Shrine, but you’ve had more close calls.”

“I don’t know,” Wild looked at the scaring on his hands, “I have a much higher tolerance for pain and I don’t need to eat that often, but I have my limits. I think I can get severely injured, and then I am stuck like that until I heal, but don’t die.”

“Oh,” Four muttered before getting on Blueberry with Wind. 

They started off, only a few of them questioning where the seventh horse came from. There were no stables in between Highland and Outskirt, so they would be riding for two days straight. It wasn’t that hard of a trek for the double riders, who could take turns falling asleep, but for everyone else it was. 

“Why didn’t Wild just go alone?” Legend yawned, “if we’re being ditched anyway.”

“He’s not allowed to be alone any more.” “You aren’t allowed alone anymore.”

Both Twilight and Wild spoke at the same time. It was true that the last time they left Wild alone for more than a day he managed to break all of his weapons and half of his bones. That being said, the Links also destroyed a wall to his house when that happened.

A day and a night passed after that and they made it to Outskirt Stable. Wild handed Salt off to the old man who’s grandfather was a Royal Groomsman, since he knew how to groom Salt properly, and turned in his other horses, sans Epona. 

He bid goodbye to the Links and headed to Satori. As he crossed the bridge, he caught sight of the park that was made to honor the fallen horses of knights. Malanya was happy when he told him about that. 

“Honorable sacrifices must be remembered,” he had said. 

He smiled, he had been her with Zelda, when they were starting to get along better. He wondered if they had been there before that moment, on the way to Rito Village perhaps. 

He really needed to stop wondering. 

-

Link looked forward on the back of a brown horse, a gift from the King. He didn’t really like it, who’s name was already Chosen. The horse had been bred specifically for the Hero to ride, so it was both pampered yet too strong for its own good. He missed the wild horses he used to catch. 

He was trotting beside Princess Zelda, she was 14. This was his first time as a Royal Guard outside of the castle and, though he didn’t know it, it was a beginning test to see if he was worthy of being the Princess’ only guard. The knights behind them were watching and grading him. 

“Sir Link,” she spoke hopefully, maybe this time she’d get a reply, “have you ever been to Rito Village before.”

No, he shook his head. 

“Oh, well, it is very nice. It is absolutely beautiful this time of year!”

He nodded. 

“Sir Link,” she looked around like she was scared. When she was confident enough that the other guards were too far behind them to hear her, she whispered. “What do you think I should do? My father asks every day if I have my sealing power or if I can hear Her Grace, but I just can’t! Do you hear Her?”

He did nothing this time. He had never caught so much as an echo from the goddess in the past two years. And on the powers side, he couldn’t control any of his that he inherited from his parents. 

He should feel bad, his parents were alive and he had access to talk to them. He was just a coward, too scared to admit that he couldn’t do anything of use. The Princess was so much stronger than him, struggling as she was. 

When he said nothing, the Princess looked away, “hmph, figures. I don’t know why I bother. I bet Her Grace talks to you all the time, you are just waiting for the Calamity to rise up and then you can show how much of a fraud the Princess is.”

Link’s eyes twitched slightly. The Princess noticed. 

“A rare reaction from the great Champion of Hyrule,” she gripped the reigns of her horse, “it must be nice to live up to the exceptions. I am sure you will do great things, Sir Link.”

She spat out ‘sir’ like it was an insult. Link remembered feeling pain, anger, and pity as the memory faded away. 

-

Wild bolted up, finding himself already on Satori Mountain. Epona looked at him with a whinny and Wild smiled. She kept walking while he was remembering. He wished he could do that on his own. 

“Looks like I’m back home,” he was back in the bog that he was taken away from all those years ago. He wondered where all those brothers he was playing with were now. 

He got off of Epona and started to trudge up to the pond where Satori lived. While doing so, he started to recall all those times he had attempted to ride the Lord of the Mountain or, Hylia forbid he do it again, kill him. 

He didn’t blame Leon for thinking he was a lynel. Wild did the same thing. 

“Dad,” he whispered, “please forgive me. I was, I am an idiot.”

Then, he heard some scuttling to the right of him in the bushes.

“What the?” He looked at where the noise was coming from. It couldn’t be a monster, he had cleaned out any here awhile ago and there were no more blood moons. A fox, maybe?

He crouched down and moved the branches aside. When he did, he saw a glowing blue rabbit: a blupee. 

“Oh,” he smiled, “hey!”

The blupee opened its eye from its nap and immediately bolted at the sight of him. Wild swore, he had done a lot of stupid things to his family after forgetting about them. A few times he had shot the blupees for the money they dropped. 

“Wait!” He chased the creature, hoping to get to it before it teleported away. In his memories, he knew the language of the blupees, so he should remember some of it now, right?

The blupee was running straight to tree, a sign that it was about to vanish. He had to act fast. 

He called out one last time, hoping the words came out right, “wait!”

The blupee paused as a single hoot passed through Wild’s lips. The blupee smiled and bounced over to him. 

“Little brother!” It cried to him, “little brother remembers us!”

A chorus of chirping surrounded him as the blupees popped into existence all around him. He counted about twenty, but he knew that was just the population on Satori Mountain. 

“Little brother!” Another tackled his foot. 

“Woah!” He nearly fell over, “I think at this point I’m the bigger brother.”

“No!” A blupee punched the air, “you are only 17. We are older by centuries.”

“That’s 117 to you,” Wild glared before smiling, “I missed you guys. Sorry for, uh, shooting you. I didn’t know.”

“That shrine doesn’t count!”

“Apology accepted,” the blupee on his leg replied, “but only after…REVENGE!”

Wild had no time to react as twenty blupees jumped on him, knocking the wind out of his chest and made him fall down onto the grass. He winced before laughing as he was swarmed. Some of them tickled him and others sat on his hands, refusing to move.

“Do you admit defeat?” A blupee sat on his chest and looked him in the eyes. “And surrender to the Blupee Brigade?”

How many brigades was I in? He thought. 

“Yeah, I surrender!” He chuckled as they all fell off him and let him stand up, “what spoils of war go to the honorable Blupee Brigade?”

“Uh,” one blupee thought, “ten rupees each!”

They all nodded earnestly. That wasn’t that much, and he had taken more from them in the past. 

“What do you guys even do with the money?” He asked as he dropped a bunch of red rupees on the ground. 

“None of your business,” one huffed. 

“They’re shiny!” One admitted. 

“You guys are like the Yiga with their bananas,” he joked before getting serious, “hey, is Dad home?”

A nod, “are you visiting him? He’s missed you, we all have.”

“Sorry for not coming sooner,” he gave a half smile, “I only remembered a couple day ago.”

“It’s alright,” a blupee started to bounce up the mountain, “come on, you’ve probably forgotten how to summon Dad.” 

“Yeah, let’s go!” “Little brother, you’re slow!” “I can’t wait!”

They all hopped around him as he went up the trail between the large rocks. Once at the empty pond, a blupee sat on a rock and waved at him.

“This is what you do,” it stood on all fours and started doing random noises, like chirps or hoots or clicks. The blupee repeated the noises in an order and the pond started to glow. Wild stared in awe as the Lord of the Mountain appeared in all of his glory. 

“Why have I been summoned?” Satori turned around and locked eyes with Wild and sighed, “children, you know Link does not remember us.”

“Dad, he does!” The blupee bopped Wild in the arm, “tell him!”

“D-dad?” Wild asked hesitantly, “sorry-sorry for everything.”

Satori moved over slowly and looked Wild up and down, like he didn’t believe he was there. 

“Son?” He asked, “you really remember me?”

“Yeah,” he rubbed his arms, “well, only a little bit, but I’ve been remembering more and more recently.”

Satori was now right up to Wild. He was starting to feel crowded with the brothers behind him and his father in front of him. Satori then bowed his head. 

“It is so good to have you back,” he said, “we lost you three different times, now you are back home.”

“Three?” Wild asked. 

“Once to the Hylians,” Satori explained, “and once to the Calamity. You vanished from my senses and I could not find you, so I assumed the worst.”

“But then you came back,” a blupee added, “but then you started shooting us!”

“Yes,” Satori nodded, “we regained you only for you to be lost to amnesia.”

“I’m still working on that,” Wild hugged his father around the neck, “sorry for making you wait.”

“No, we are sorry for not protecting you.”

Wild didn’t realize that tears were starting to fall until he heard a tiny drop hit his sleeve. He couldn’t recall ever feeling this safe, surrounded by people who cared for him and knew him. The closest thing he could equate this to was being with the Links.

“I do have a couple of questions,” Wild released the hug a while later, “I visited Ma before coming here and he said I had to ask you about Wolfie.”

“The wolf?” Satori tilted his head, “what about him? He is here.”

“He’s here?” Wild choked, “w-what, how?”

“Ever since you were last spotted,” a blupee answered, “Wolfie has been hanging out here. We assumed you were fine because he wasn’t freaking out.”

“B-but,” Wild ran his fingers through his head, “that’s impossible.”

To prove him otherwise, one of Satori’s faces whistled and twilit magic spawned in the pond, revealing a great black wolf. The wolf spotted Wild and immediately jumped on him. 

“Is today attack Wild day?” He asked, dodging Wolfie’s paws. 

“Wild?” Satori squinted. 

“Oh, I’ve been traveling with others named Link,” he told them, “Wild is the nickname I use.”

“Fitting,” his father commented, “seeing as you are the god of wild.”

“Yeah, we did not know that when I was giving the name. Wolfie!”

The wolf refused to stop trying to jump on Wild. Annoyed, Wild grabbed him by his neck and forced him to stay down. 

“Seriously?” He asked as Wolfie bit his arm to force him to let him go, “fine, I won’t disappear again. I got it!”

Wolfie seemed satisfied and sat next to Wild while he petted him. 

“This is still impossible,” Wild shook his head, “I just saw you-you can’t be him.”

“I think you need to explain, Son,” Satori spoke, “because the wolf has never left here.”

“The people I’m traveling with,” he started, “they’re all named Link because they’re all Heroes like me. One of them is the Hero of Twilight, who turns into this wolf.”

He pointed to the wolf, who happened to be glancing away from him. 

“And I just left him at the stable,” he finished, “so, my question is this: how come Wolfie has been with me my whole life, yet Twilight has no idea about any of this?”

“Hmm,” Satori hummed, “I do not know.”

“What?”

“A few days after you were born, the wolf showed up. He was the most peculiar thing, a wild creature over which I had no dominion, but he was of no harm to you. On the contrary, he made you happy, so I allowed him to stay.”

“A random wolf shows up and never leaves and you don’t question it?” Wild raised an eyebrow, “you know what, I didn’t question it after I woke up.”

Wild looked at the Wolf and glared. The wolf was hiding something, he knew it. This was Twilight’s wolf form, no doubt about it, as they both had a shackle, so why didn’t he remember?

Was it possible it was an echo of Twilight, and not actually him? There were legends of Heroes from the past leaving an impression for the future Heroes to learn from. Or the wolf was from after this…

Wild slowly grinned, “oh, you bastard!”

“Link cursed!” A blupee shouted. 

“Shut up, Greg!” Another slapped him. 

Wild crouched down and looked Wolfie in the eyes with a sly grin, “transform back right now or I tell the others your secrets.”

The wolf snorted in his face, but Wild wasn’t backing down. 

“It might not matter to you,” he poked the wolf’s nose, “but past you will definitely murder future him if I tell him it’s because of you.”

Wolfie rolled his eyes, relenting. Wild back up, proud of his victory, as the wolf merged into twilight and transformed into a human. 

“Dramatic as always, Wild,” Twilight smirked, “or do you prefer Link again?”

The blupees all scampered away at the sight of the new human, sensing the dark magic that he used to transform. Even Satori stepped back. 

“Jeez,” he laughed, “do the last 100 years mean nothing now?”

Wild looked at the laughing man, he seemed way different than the Twilight he knew. He was happier and more animated, and he had more snark. 

He also looked different. His sleeves and pants were now black, contrasting even more with his golden chainmail. He pelt was different, the tail end being cut off so it only surrounded his shoulders. His hair was longer and messier, it matched Wild’s being pulled up in a ponytail. His sword and shield were gone, leaving him defenseless unless he was a wolf. 

“What’s-a matter, Wild?” Twilight leaned on him, “you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“How?” Wild stared, “how are you still here?”

“You should be asking yourself that, Cub,” he ruffled his hair, “you really need to cut this.”

“Stop!” Wild backed away, “what do you mean?”

“Son, who is this?” Satori asked, “is this why I had no control over the wolf.”

“I did not expect you to take it in stride when I showed up,” Twilight nodded, “my name’s Link, or Twilight considering the nonsense we’ve got going on, and I’m still Wolfie. I did take care of your son his whole life.”

“I repeat: How?” Wild was about to murder him. He knew everything about him for the past 100 years. After he woke up, he knew he was a god, yet he didn’t say anything. He could’ve warned him about the time traveling mess. “Time travel, again?”

Twilight shook his head, “I was serious when I said you needed to ask yourself. I just remember dying and then suddenly I was connected to you. I woke up as a wolf pup and knew I had to find you. In our time together, you did something, don’t know what, that allowed me to coming back after my death thousands of years into the future.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Wild lowered his hand. 

Twilight smiled, “don’t regret a second of it! Someone had to keep you in line.”

“But when you said dying...”

He raised up a hand, “I lived a long life, Cub. I only look like this because how I look is now tied to how you look.”

“Were you an actual toddler when you were a pup, then?”

“We don’t talk about that! My mind was fine and that’s all that matters.”

“Wait a minute!” Wild pushed his friend, “you bit me!”

“Don’t go vanishing off.”

“You knew where I was going!” Wild laughed and then looked at his father, “sorry, Dad. We’re not usually like this.”

“Speak for yourself,” Twilight pointed to himself, “old me was just more aloof and would shout at you behind doors, whereas I know you need to be immediately shut down.”

“Rude,” Wild stuck his tongue out. 

“It is alright, Son,” Satori bowed his head, “it is good to meet you, Hero of Twilight.”

“You’ve already met me,” he waved, “but hi, I guess. Now, can you tell your children that I’m not gonna eat them.”

“Children!” The god boomed and the blupees all appeared, “it is alright.”

“But that’s dark magic!”

“Shut. Up. Greg!”

“Twili, not dark,” Twilight corrected, “and I only use it to transform. I can hold the Master Sword if that would make you feel safe.”

“No need,” Satori shook his head, “I can sense Hylia’s blessings on you.”

“Yeah, she hands those out like candy, you learn.”

“Are there anymore questions, Son?” He turned his attention back onto Wild. 

He nodded, “yeah, considering I somehow caused that annoyance to be here-“

“That’s fair.”

“-are there anymore powers that I have?” Wild looked at his hands, “I can do some things subconsciously, but I don’t know what’s me being a god and what’s me being Hylia’s Champion.”

Satori tilted his head, “I am sorry to say that I cannot answer that. Your powers are a combination of mine, Malanya’s, and Hylia’s, so we were never sure what you would become. Any powers you discovered were when you were away.”

Wild’s face fell, “I have to remember them all over again.”

“I am sure your friend can help you.”

Wild glanced at Twilight’s crazed smiled. He looked way too happy.

“No!” He stopped, “I am traveling with his past self, he-he can’t come with us.”

“Why not, Cub?” Twilight punched his shoulder. 

“You’re seriously telling me past you wouldn’t think your some evil clone?” Wild gestured to all of him, “I never told him about you.”

“I know,” he smirked, “just think about this. If he is me, and he is, he still wants to keep this power secret. So, what better cover than the fact that him and ‘Wolfie’ are in the same room for the first time ever. It gets any suspicion off his back and allows me to-“

Twilight froze, mouth half opened, before finishing his sentence. Wild looked to where he was staring, it would have been directly at the Outskirt Stable if not for the rocks in the way. 

“Twilight?”

“If it isn’t much trouble,” he stared into the distance still, “I would like to see my fa- can I see Time, again?”

Wild gave out a quiet whisper, “oh. You haven’t seen him in a while.”

Twilight smiled softly, “I see him a lot, actually, just not in his prime. Not like this.”

“Wait, this is his prime?” 

Twilight laughed, “of course I would like to see everyone. Four will be so confused and I need to see his face if he saw me and past me in the same room. The others, they would be nice to see after all this time.”

Wild relented, Twilight’s face was too much to handle. It would have been way worse if he was still a wolf. Never again would he engage with Wolfie while he was giving him puppy dog eyes. 

“Fine…”

“Yes! You will regret this.”

“Don’t you mean ‘I won’t regret this’?”

“Nope.”

Wild definitely regretted this already. It was a pointless battle, since Twilight already knew what was going to happen from his past self’s perspective. He wondered at what moment did he realize what was going on back then. 

“Bye, Dad,” Wild hugged his father one last time, “I’ll visit whenever I can.”

“Take your time,” Satori told him, “I know you still have work to do.”

“Bye, guys,” Wild waved to the blupees.

“Bye, little brother!” “Come back soon!” “Stop shooting us.” “SHUT UP, GREG!”

Wild laughed as he left the pond and made it to his horse. 

“It’s amazing, huh?” Twilight petted Epona as Wild got on, “seeing your parents again.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, “you should probably go into wolf form, past you likes to be on look out for me.”

“I must’ve been annoying,” he touched the rock around his neck with no question, “still am.”

“You can say that again,” Wild looked down at Wolfie, “you know where we’re staying.” 

With a bark, he bolted down the mountain and Wild raced after him. Epona navigated the rocky cliffside and Wild thought about what his father said about his powers. He had to remember them?

He looked all around him, maybe this time he could intentionally force a memory. He scanned the horizon until his vision was stopped by the sight of a silent princess flower. 

He smiled, they had started to grow more and more to the wonderment of Zelda. Maybe he should get one for her…

He stopped Epona for a quick second and jumped off. He leaned down and was about to pick the single flower with something about its glow mesmerized him. 

-

Link stood guard by Princess Zelda as she prayed in the castle’s empty temple. He was 15 and was finally guarding her in the capital alone. Whenever they left, however, they would be accompanied by a singular guard. 

He had his back turned at the request of the Princess, who was getting more and more agitated as the day went on. Her face would scrunched up and the few times he looked at her she looked to be on the verge of tears. 

He felt bad for her. In a way, she was right about how he had already done what was needed of him. The prophecy required the sword with a wielder, not any strength from the wielder in particular. The Princess needed to have the sealing powers or else all was doomed. 

She was right to hate him, he decided ever since she stopped trying to talk to him. After all, who would like a weakling who only carried a stick and let his mother die. 

He was too much of a coward to even talk. At first, he was silent so that only Hylia would be the one to hear him, but, over time, his bitterness toward the goddess faded, leaving him lost and confused. Now he was silent from all the looks he received from the Hylians, they made him feel small as they seemed to loom over him. 

It was best not to talk to anyone.

Zelda gave one last cry of desperation before standing up. She didn’t bother to look at Link as she walked past. 

“Sir Link,” she addressed coldly, “my prayers are done, you are relieved of your duty.”

He nodded. 

She clenched her fist at his silence, “you know it is a part of manners to speak when spoken to.”

He nodded. 

The Princess huffed and stormed out, leaving Link alone in a room full of statues of the goddess. 

He moved to look at the largest statue, the one the Princess was kneeling in front of. He did likewise and started his own prayer. 

“Hylia,” he thought, there was no way he was calling her your Grace, “answer me this time, please. For the Princess’ sake, at least.”

No response. 

He sighed, “she is doing everything to unlock her powers, as am I, but neither of us seem to be able to even reach them. Is this your doing? Are you stoping your chosen from accomplishing your task?”

No response. 

“We are on the same standing, you and I,” he growled, “both of us are gods, so you have no right to call for my help, yet not speak.”

He started to feel the helplessness that the Princess felt every time she prayed. This is why he didn’t do it often. 

“Are you even here?” He stood up, “or are you listening and choosing to remain silent!”

He didn’t realize he was shaking until he felt Wolfie lean against him. The wolf had walked in after the Princess left, noticing that he was still in there. Link breathed heavily and he scratched the back of Wolfie’s neck. 

And that’s when it hit him. 

“We are on the same standing,” he looked to the sky, where paintings of Hylia’s deeds danced across the ceiling, “we’re both remaining silent and cutting the Princess off. Is it for the same reason?

“Do you feel the same glares that I do?”

No response.

He sat back down, covering his face with his hands, and Wolfie laid next to him. 

Was this really all there was to it? Two pathetic gods who, despite all their might, couldn’t do anything. They both locked themselves away, too scared of disappointing everyone. 

“How about this,” he started, “I will start talking to the Princess, as long as you do too. What do you say?”

No response. 

“At least tell me how I can unlock my powers. There must have been a time you couldn’t yours. If I have my powers, I could lighten the load off the Princess. Maybe the King would go more easy on her.”

No response.

Link gave up, “I can’t remember the last time she smiled. If we keep doing this to her, well, we won’t be so alone with a silent princess joining us.”

He glanced at Wolfie, who was looking up at him with concern. He nodded his head and started to head for the exit. He was stopped, though, when Wolfie bit his tunic. 

Link turned around and glared at the wolf. Wolfie ignored him and walked over to where Link used to be sitting. There was something there that hadn’t been before. 

Growing in the cracks on the floor was a single flower that he didn’t recognize. It was white with five petals, having splashes of light blue lining the inside. There were multiple stamen and stigma sticking out in blue and yellow. 

He walked up to the flower, looking at the Hylia statue. Did she do this?

No response. 

He crouched down and slowly reached out to touch it. As he moved, the flower and his eyes started to glow a vivid blue. 

He-he did this?

He smiled and pulled the flower out of the ground carefully, making sure to keep the roots attached. The Princess would love this. 

-

Wild continued to smile as he picked the silent princess. Wolfie had appeared beside him at some point while he was remembering and he lifted his head when he started to move. 

“I made these,” Wild’s eyes started to glow and the empty base regrew into a new flower, like nothing ever happened, “I made these!”

Wolfie shifted back into Twilight and nodded. 

“The reason they were so hard to grow was because they were your first creation,” he explained, “but now, with you more powerful subconsciously, they are growing like crazy.”

“First creation?” Wild was still entranced by the glow of the flower, “I made more?”

He tilted his head, “sure, you made lots of things. Silent shroom, blue nightshade, and fireflies are some of them. Anything that glows in this country was most likely made by you.”

“Wow,” he grinned, “what happened after I made this? Did I get it to the Princess?”

“Cub,” Twilight winced, “you know how the Princess felt about you back then. You got it to her, but it wasn’t you who gave it.”

“That was probably the best decision,” Wild agreed, “who gave it to her?”

“Do you remember the Sheikah bard?”

He thought for a moment, he didn’t recall ever seeing one, but he heard of him. The bard was Kass’ mentor and he lived in the castle. He also was in love with-

“Oh,” he blinked. 

“Yeah,” Twilight laughed, “I still don’t understand your reasoning, but you gave it to him and made him promise not to tell Zelda that you were the one who found it.”

Wild looked back at the silent princess. How did that go?

-

“Don’t kill me!” A Sheikah buried himself in his puffy jacket and scrunched up his legs. Link had found him and picked him up with one hand, as he tried to run the moment Link spotted him. 

Link rolled his eyes. This bard was a strange one, always acting strong until faced with slight aggression. With great effort, he spoke for the first time in years. 

“Merle?” His voice came out gruff and quiet, the bard wasn’t even sure if he heard him. 

“Y-yes, sir,” Merle peaked out, “sorry, I’ve just-you’ve never talked and-“

Link shushed him, hearing someone coming near. He moved into a nook of the castle and sat down the bard. 

“Is there something you n-need, sir?” Merle asked. He didn’t expect a flower pot to be shoved under his nose.

“Give to Princess,” he spoke in broken Hylian, it was hard to say to much. 

Merle took the flower hesitantly, staring at the glowing lights. 

“I have never seen a flower so beautiful,” he smiled, “where did you find it?”

“Tell no one, ‘m never here,” Link ignored the question. 

“Give it to her Highness?” Merle clarified. 

“You two friends, yes?”

Merle animated to his normally bouncy self, “why yes, sir! I would like to think so. She seems to enjoy my songs.”

Link nodded and walked away, satisfied with his job. 

“Wait, sir!” The bard called out to him, “why not do this yourself? Why me?”

Though he didn’t speak his answer, Link did have one. The only times he saw the Princess even slightly happy was when that bard was around. If he gave it to her she would hate it, but Merle…

It didn’t hurt that he knew the bard was in love with her.

It was later that Merle gave the flower to the Princess. It happened while Link was on duty, guiding her through the long and winding paths of the castle after dinner, and he ran up to her, lute in one hand and flower in the other. 

“Your Highness!” Merle cried before collecting himself, putting on a strong facade, “may I speak with you a moment?”

“Bard Merle?” She paused in her walk, putting up a hand to order Link to stop as well, “your songs were simply delightful at dinner tonight. You must simply tell me your inspiration for the Ballad of the Seventh Sage. Was it the Princess of Destiny or the Fallen Sage of Twilight?”

Link smirked internally at the bard’s discomfort. He knew that almost all of his songs were based around the Princess, and the Ballad of the Seventh Sage was no different. Sure, he took inspiration partially from the legend of the Hero of Time, but everything else was from what he saw. 

“It just hit me one day, Princess,” Merle lied, “as I’m sure genius does for you every second you’re awake. I saw the amazing analysis you did on the newly discovered shrine in Kakariko.”

She smiled weakly, “it seems I am good for something, though I’m sure that Dr. Purah did far better work. My, what is that flower you are holding?”

She pointed to the flower pot in his hand. Merle leaned his instrument on the wall and handed the pot to the Princess with both arms. He bowed as he did so and she took it curiously. 

“This is why I am here, Princess,” he stood up straight, “do you like it?”

“It’s,” she turned it around, inspecting every inch, “it’s exquisite! I have never seen a specimen quite like this one.”

Merle’s eyes glimmered with happiness, “I thought so too. My mind immediately went to you, as I know you will discover every secret that this unknown species has to hold.”

Link resisted the urge to glare. He was putting it on a little think, wasn’t he?

“Where by Hylia’s name did you find it?” She asked, “and does it have a name?”

“Uh,” Merle glanced at Link, who did glare this time while the Princess wasn’t looking, “it seems I have forgotten, sorry. And no, it does not have a name. You should have the honor to do that, your Highness.”

“I am absolutely rubbish at naming things,” she shook her head, “perhaps, with your way with words, later you come help me name the species. After I have documented it, of course.”

“I would be honored,” he bowed again. 

When the Princess lowered the flower pot, Link got his reward for all of this. She was smiling. 

“I will call for you in coming week, Bard Merle,” she beamed and started to walk, “come along, Sir Link.”

They started moving again and Link gave one last glance to the bard. He looked ready to feint from receiving an invitation to talk with the Princess. Merle grabbed his lute and ran away, presumedly to write more ballads of his one true love. 

“The possibilities that this flower could hold,” the Princess mused, “the glowing, what could be causing it? How young is this species? Oh, this is too exciting!”

Link allowed himself a small smile as she walked into her room, slamming the door shut without even looking back at him.

Days later, the Princess ordered him to find the bard and bring him to her private study. It was an honor that the gossip journals would find out about real quick. There would be rumors of the Princess being courted in the coming week. 

Link found Merle practicing his lute and he knocked on the door. He jumped to attention. 

“Sir Link,” he bowed, “what do I owe the honor?”

He said nothing and just gestured his right arm in the direction of the Princess’ study. The bard understood immediately and did a brisk walk to exit the room. 

“I cannot thank you enough for what you did!” He spoke as they walked, “the Princess and I have never been closer. She has also been happier with something to do. What can I do to repay you?”

Link looked onward, simply placing a single finger to his lips. 

“Oh, right,” Merle covered his mouth, “you were never there. Still, I am in your debt.”

He fell silent until Link knocked on the Princess’ door and she opened it. 

“Merle!” She cried before correcting herself, “I mean, Bard Merle, I hope you company was…adequate.”

“Sir Link was a perfect gentleman,” Merle bowed, he certainly did that a lot, “but the company I am now in is the greatest of all.”

She giggled, “come in, then. Sir Link, you are dismissed.”

Merle walked in and closed the door, leaving Link alone. He loved that the Princess was happy, and it made him happy. 

It didn’t hurt at all. 

-

“Yeah, that went probably as good as it would ever at the time,” Wild looked at Twilight, “she seemed happy.”

“Cub, I recognize that expression,” Twilight helped him up, “you did not like giving the flower to the bard one bit.”

“What of it?” He brushed his tunic off and placed the flower in his slate for protection, “it made both of them happy and that’s what matters.“

“Whatever you say, Cub,” Twilight grabbed his necklace, “we better hurry, it’s about to get dark. I think you can hold off remembering more stuff until after we make it to the stable.”

“Alright.”

Twilight shifted into Wolfie and Wild mounted Epona. They sped back to the stable just as the sun was setting. Again, it was Twilight, the past version, who spotted them first. 

“Wild!” He waved before suddenly pulling out his sword. 

“Woah, Twilight,” Wild stopped, “what’s wrong?”

Twilight said nothing, just pointing his sword at Wolfie. Wild looked between him and the wolf, who sat there clearly knowing what it was doing. 

“You don’t have to be so smug,” Wild smacked him on the nose before smiling at Twilight, “I can explain.”

“Wild’s back!” Wind shouted from inside the stable and ran out to greet him, but was stopped by Twilight’s hand, “what?”

“Stay back,” he growled. 

Legend stumbled out, “what’s going on?”

“Twilight, that’s just Wolfie,” Wind noticed where he was staring. 

“Oh, yeah,” Legend remembered, “you two have never been in the same room before.”

Wild faked a smile, “put the sword down, he’s fine. Come get to know Wolfie, he’s helped me a lot on my journey.“

He tried to communicate that he would explain later with his eyes, but he wasn’t sure if it came through. Twilight put his sword down and Wolfie bounded over to him tauntingly. The wolf leaned his full weight onto the person. 

“Hey, Wolfie,” Twilight grimaced as he scratched the dog, “nice to meet you.”

Wolfie was cackling on the inside.

It was at that moment that everyone came outside to greet Wild. Most of them said hi to Wolfie, not questioning how uncomfortable Twilight looked, and asked him how meeting Satori went. 

“It was great!” Wild assured them, “I met my brothers again and I promised to visit more.”

“Brothers?” Wind asked, “how are they still alive after 100 years?”

“You know those blue glowing rabbits? All of those are my brothers.”

“Cub, didn’t you said you shot the blupees because they dropped rupees?”

“I apologized!”

Then, Four came out and saw Twilight petting Wolfie. He rubbed his eyes from the nap he had just woken up from, but no, he was seeing correctly. 

“Uh, how? Why? What?” He stuttered. 

“What is with you guys today?” Wild glared at Four with a smile, “it’s just Wolfie.”

“Rrriiigghhtt,” Four drawled, “I’m going back to sleep. Time, you handle this.”

“What’s all the commotion?” Time’s face remained mostly blank when he saw double, with only a raised eyebrow changing his demeanor. 

“Help. Me.” Twilight mouthed. Wolfie was leaning more and more on him and he was a pretty big dog. 

No help was needed. At the sound of Time’s voice the wolf sped over and obediently sat down on his hind legs. He looked up and tilted his head to the confusion of Time. Taking it in stride, Time simply crouched down and started petting him. 

“Looks like you have a new friend, Pup,” he smirked. 

“Great,” Twilight walked over to Wild and grabbed him by the arm, “we are talking. Now!”

He harshly dragged Wild behind the stable, ignoring the stares that the Links were giving him. Wild grunted as he was pulled and pushed the hair out of the way that was falling in his eyes. 

“Jeez, Twi,” he whined, “no need to be so rough.”

Twilight stomped his foot, “explain.”

“That’s Wolfie,” he joked before frowning, “it really is.”

“How? How do we know it isn’t Dark Link pretending to be me?”

Wild shook his head, “that is definitely not the case! It’s just you from the future.”

Twilight squinted, “me from the future?”

He looked down, “I haven’t been honest with you. I wasn’t actually alone on my adventure, I had Wolfie with me. When I met you, I knew you were the same, but you didn’t remember being with me. 

“It turns out that that Wolfie over there, who’s been with me my whole life, is just you…but after you died.”

“Really?” He looked in the direction they came and sighed, “you know, I am not as surprised as I should be. No way after meeting you would I leave you alone.”

“He said the something around the same thing,” Wild mumbled, “I’m not that bad.”

“But how have I stayed this long?” He asked, “you are thousands upon thousands of years after me.”

“He says I did something,” Wild ran his fingers through his ponytail, “that sometime around now I managed to do something to, I don’t know, connect you to me. Like Wolfie has been aging with me.”

“You’ll do something now-“

“I won’t if you don’t want to!” Wild panicked, “I know you don’t want to spend more time watching over me than you have to and-“

“Wild, Cub,” Twilight placed his hands on his shoulder, “you’re shaking, calm down. It’s alright, I would gladly watch out for you after my death. It seems to be in my blood to do that.”

He nodded shakily, “you want to meet him? He’s probably torturing Time.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” they started walking. 

“I don’t know,” Wild shrugged, “you’re a little sh*t now.”

“What?”

“The first thing he did when he revealed himself was say how dramatic I was and mock me for my confusion.”

“To be fair, you are.”

“And you say you wouldn’t do that!”

They bickered as they returned to the front of the stable, where only Time and Wolfie were left. Time was sitting down and Wolfie had his head on his lap. 

“So,” Time spoke, “either one of you want to explain who exactly is in my lap?”

“Dead me from the future, apparently,” Twilight revealed, “he’s been with Wild since he was born.”

“He wanted to see you again,” Wild explained, “since it’s been a long time.”

Wolfie stood up and barked in agreement. 

“Good to see you again, Pup,” Time smiled, “you gave Twilight here a scare.”

He bared his fangs in a smile. He then looked at Wild, trying to communicate with him. Wild kneeled and they went into a silent conversation. 

Wolfie gestured to Twilight and then patted the ground. Wild narrowed his eyes and shook his head. Wolfie barked and jumped. Wild stood strong. Wolfie them gave him puppy dog eyes. 

“I really hate you,” Wild chuckled, “Twilight has to agree first, you know.”

“Agree to what?” Twilight asked, “what just happened?”

Wild stood up, “Wolfie wants to become human for a day and you two switch places. He thinks no one would notice. So?”

“How different is he from me?” He looked at the wolf, “will he give it away?”

“He looks a little different and acts a little different,” Wild admitted, “but Wolfie thinks he can pretend for at least a day.”

Twilight groaned, “why am I considering this? Fine.”

Wolfie jumped and barked happily.

“I’ll distract everyone,” Time stood up and went into the stable. 

“Great!” Wolfie popped into human form to the shock of Twilight, “thanks! It’s been literally thousands of years since I’ve been human for more than five minutes.”

“Yeah, already regret this,” Twilight looked him up and down, “you can excuse away the clothes, but the hair. Either you hide it or have to cut it.”

Wolfie touched his ponytail before huffing. He grabbed the pelt on his shoulders and lifted it over his head, covering all of his hair. 

“Wait, that’s a hood?” Wild asked. 

“Did you think I wore this for decoration?” Twilight looked at him funny, “it’s for when winter comes.”

“Though we did wear it because it looked cool,” Wolfie contradicted. 

Twilight glared at him. He seemed satisfied that he secret wound’t get outed, so he shifted into his own wolf form. 

“This is going to get confusing as time goes on,” Wild already felt a headache coming on. 

“It was confusing the moment nine people named Link were thrown together. C’mon, I wanna see the others.”

Both Wild and Twilight were nervous the entire time Wolfie interacted with the others. He pretended to be his past self well, dropping his newer sarcastic outlook on life. It was almost as if he was the same as the Twilight they knew. 

“What’s with the black?” Legend noticed. 

“Needed to wash it,” he effortlessly explained away, “got some monster blood on it and I thought it’d be better to not wear that.”

“And the hood?” Hyrule felt the soft fur, “you never wear it.”

“I think I’m getting a cold or something, I’ll be better in a day.”

While Wolfie talked, Wild dragged Four away and explained. He knew that that wasn’t Twilight the moment he walked in and almost brought it up multiple times. 

“Okay,” Four looked at Wolfie and then back at Wild, “20 rupees he blows his cover before they switch?”

“40 Twilight blows his cover after the switch.”

“Deal.”

They calmed down soon, as it was getting late, and they all headed off to bed. Twilight fell asleep near his Epona while Wolfie stayed up talking to Time. Wolfie looked really happy to be talking to him again, so Wild decided to leave them be. Instead, he went to behind the stable to practice his powers. 

He started simple, trying to get any plants to grow. Wolfie said he was responsible for the creation of the silent princess, the silent shroom, and the blue nightshade, all plants he knew bloomed at night. He was in their element, so they should be easy to grow, right?

He tried to recall what he was doing when he regrew the flower after leaving the mountain. He was happy, and his vision filled with blue. He held onto that memory and attempted to summon his powers. 

Over the next couple of hours he didn’t do much. He sometimes got blue vision, or the grass would start to glow, but nothing would ever grow. He huffed in annoyance, that was the one power he was sure he had and he couldn’t even do it. 

He glared at his hands, why was he never as good as the old him?

-

Link growled and punched a wall. His powers weren’t responding to him ever since he first grew what the Princess and Merle dubbed the silent princess flower. 

“It’s just like you, your Highness,” Merle said in his falsetto voice, “beautiful, fighting against all odds, ready to sing, but waiting for its time.”

The Princess was touched. Link wanted to gag. 

After his initial creation of the flower, they would start to pop up wherever he went. So, they ended up growing all over Hyrule as he traveled with the Princess. He was appointed as Hyrule’s Champion and her personal knight only a couple weeks ago. 

The one thing that made his fruitless efforts worth anything were the smiles on the Princess’ face when she spotted a new flower. If only he could manage to make the silent princess more resilient and could grow them on command. 

He glared at the champion’s tunic he was given. Its sky blue coloring seemed to taunt him.

His practice was interrupted as he heard giggles and voices coming into the garden. He swore internally, no one ever came into this garden because it wasn’t as fancy or large as the others. He forgot that the anonymity made this spot perfect for couples looking to hide. 

He had to leave before they arrived to do whatever the two nobles thought were too scandalous to be doing in their own homes. That or it was servants, hiding from their bosses. Or a combination with a noble cheating with a servant. 

He started to leave through one of the side exits when he heard a harsh tone of voice. 

“Sir Link?” So much for the Princess’ happy mood. She was the giggling voice he heard. “What are you doing here?”

He turned around to see her on the arms of the bard Merle. She was glaring at him while Merle looked in distress.

Link bowed and turned around once more to leave. 

“Sir Link!” The Princess growled. 

He froze. 

“Zelda,” he heard Merle whisper, “just let him leave, he’s doing no harm.”

Zelda? So they were on a first name basis now. He wondered if the King knew of this. They were in this garden of all places…

He pushed those thoughts away. There was no proof that they were here for anything of the sort. 

“Sir Link,” she repeated and ignored the bard, “what are you doing here?”

He glanced at her over his shoulder and barely made out, “alone.”

The Princess gasped, “so you can speak. I assumed you were mute. But, yes, we see you are alone.”

“I think he wanted to be alone,” Merle tried to help, “I told you this garden is rarely visited.”

“Fine, then,” she waved Link away, “you can leave, Sir Link.”

He did so and continued into the castle. He could still hear the Princess’ voice echo. 

“This whole time!” She complained, “he could speak, he just chose not to. He must really hate me.”

“I wouldn’t know about that, Zelda,” Merle tried to distract her, “look, this is why I brought you here. Another silent princess grew.”

Link entered a spiral stair case and could no longer hear their voices. He leaned on the railing about half way up and blinked away tears. It seemed the happier the Princess became, the more she wanted to despise him. 

It was alright, she was happy and that was all that matter. He had everything she didn’t, so it was only right that he should suffer. He deserved it. 

Why did it hurt so bad? He shook. Why did the looks of the Hylians get to him? Why did the Princess’ glare hurt the most?

Sometimes he wished he could just disappear like his brothers could. Vanish in a puff of smoke and reappeared when he pleased. 

He missed home. He missed Dad and Ma. He missed Sir Leon and Amaryll, who were starting to be concerned at how little he saw them. He missed his mother. 

Link wobbled as he tried to stand up, but his foot caught on something. He slipped and fell backwards down the stairs. He flinched, waiting for the pain to hit him…but it never did. 

Link vanished in a puff of smoke.

-

“Ah!” Wild screamed and grabbed himself, making sure he was solid. It took a second for his mind to catch up and realize that he was not dematerializing. 

“Cub?” Wolfie came running, nearly sliding as he stopped his momentum, “are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he breathed heavily, gripping Wolfie’s shirt, “memory, just scared me.”

“You wanna talk about it?” Wolfie looked at him with concerned. 

He shook his head, “‘m fine.”

“Doubt,” he sat next to him, “how about this? I sit here, and you pretend I’m not here. Speak to the sky about your memory and I will just happen to give advice.”

“Don’t patronize me,” Wild curled up in a ball and frowned, “I knew Zelda hated me, but it’s still- it’s hard to remember.”

“Believe me,” Wolfie nodded, “sometimes the only thing keeping me from revealing myself and yelling at her was the knowledge that you two would get better on your own.”

“We were both struggling with our powers,” he continued, “and now I don’t even know what I could do. I thought my memories could help, but it seems I wasn’t even good back then!”

Wolfie turned to look at him, “if that’s what you’re worried about. From what I’ve seen, you could grow plants, create some animals, tame animals, teleport, slow down time, and your strength is insane. I got to say I’m jealous of how well you interact with horses and your battling is something I could never top.”

“Never could bribe your Epona, though,” Wild snorted before quieting down, “what was involved in the teleporting?”

“Oh, you remembered the garden,” Wolfie realized, “you told me about when you first teleported after the fact. You described it as nothingness, no time or space passing for you, yet you could appear anywhere, anytime you wanted. After the garden, you disappeared for two days and reappeared back in Hateno, the King almost had your head if not for…”

“For what?” Wild sat up. 

Wolfie chuckled, “it’s best if you remember that for yourself. I suggest heading back to Hateno, both because that’s where you lived and because Zelda could fill in more gaps.”

“Weren’t you there?”

“The King started to push me out of the castle more and more as time went on. You didn’t notice as you were busy with the Princess.”

Wild grimaced, “sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Wolfie nodded his head backwards, “go. I’ll tell them where you’re going if you aren’t back before they wake up.”

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to be left alone?”

He snorted, “Zelda’s more than capable than watching you. I’m more worried about you being outside of your house alone.”

“Thank you.”

He ruffled his hair, “no problem. Now get going.”

Wild gave a half smile and pulled out his slate. Clicking on the nearest shrine to house, he disappeared and reappeared back in Hateno. He clutched his chest, the uneasiness from the memory still lingering. 

He started to walk to his house. Even though it was midnight, there were still lights on. Zelda must’ve been working late again. She needed to stop doing that. He knocked politely on the door and opened to see Zelda reading at the table. 

“Link?” She looked up, “what are you doing back here so soon? Are you okay?”

The whiplash he was experiencing from how she was treating him now versus in his memories was astounding. He froze for a second. 

“Link?” Zelda got out of her seat and walked over, “w-what?”

She was shocked as he suddenly hugged her. It felt so good to be with her again. She hugged back, not questioning anything. 

Wild’s eyes gazed to the table that she came from and he looked into the candles that lit her reading. 

-

Link took a deep breath as he slammed into the floor. What was that?

“What the-?” A girl’s voice rang, “Link?!”

Amaryll appeared in his line of sight. 

“What are you doing here?” She gasped and tried to pick him up. 

Link struggled to stand, his mind was disoriented. He stumbled to find his footing. 

“W-where?” He coughed. 

“You’re home!” Amaryll smiled, “I’ve missed you, but I didn’t expect you like this…what was that blue light? Woah! Your eyes are glowing.”

He looked away quickly, trying to blink his powers away. It didn’t work and his sister just looked at him oddly.

“Link, what is going on?” She pouted, “I want to know.”

He would like to know too. The last thing he remembered was thinking about home and his brothers’ teleporting. Did he actually manage to do it?

“Amaryll?” He looked her the eyes. 

“Yes?”

He paused, how could he tell her? She didn’t even know he was adopted and they’ve seen so little of each other in the past years that she didn’t even know he went mute. He couldn’t explain away this, but would she even believe him?

“‘m adopted,” he would start small. 

Amaryll whispered, “oh. I hope you know that that doesn’t explain away the magic.”

He nodded, “know.”

“You are actually adopted, though?” Another nod. “Well, you’re still my brother. And siblings don’t keep secrets, spill!”

Link smiled for a second, “my birth parents- they’re magical...”

“Okay...?”

“They’re gods...”

She burst out laughing, “that is the funniest thing you have ever said! Of all the things, you could’ve just said a witch or throw out your parents entirely and say it was a Sheikah experiment-“

He cursed internally. He remembered that Dr. Purah mentioned some teleporting powers of the ancient tech. He wished he thought of that. 

“-gods, really?” She crossed her arms, “I’m not an idiot! I’m not five anymore when I believed in fairies.”

Link winced. The reason she believed in fairies as a child was because they used to hang around him, but they left when he thought they would rat him out.

He looked down at the ground, waiting for her shouting to be done. She calmed down and noticed his expression, her’s changing to one of shock. 

“You’re serious,” she backed up, “that’s not possible.”

“Malanya, Satori,” he nodded. 

“But those two are just myths! Dad’s been to Satori Mountain, only a lynel lives there. No one has seen a Great Fairy, ever...”

She stopped talking as Link’s eyes started to glow again. He clenched his fists and refused to look her in the eye. 

“Y-you’re a god?” Amaryll asked, “my brother? Does Dad know?”

He shook his head, “tell no one. Secret.”

“But-“

“Amaryll,” he grabbed her shoulders suddenly, “please.”

She nodded hesitantly, “o-okay.”

He relaxed and looked out the window, it was nighttime. How long was he gone? It was around noon when he was in the garden. The King was going to kill him. 

He started to leave when Amaryll stopped him. She puffed her cheeks and glared. 

“You can’t just leave like that!” She pulled at his arm, “I haven’t seen you in over a year and you pop in and say ‘hey, I’m a god’?”

“Gotta go,” he removed her grip and opened the door. Sadly, someone was on the other side. 

“Link?” Sir Leon looked tired, “you’re here!”

“‘m going,” Link tried to scoot around his father, but he hugged him and blocked his exit. 

“I just got a letter,” Leon whispered, “you’ve been missing for two days.”

Two days? That was way worse than a couple of hours. He needed to get back to the castle immediately. 

“Dad?” Amaryll spoke up, “I think you’re strangling him.”

“Sorry, Link,” Leon back off, allowing Link to see him fully for the first time in a while. 

Gone was the Royal Guard, who’s gruff voice straightened up any man under his command, as he retired two years ago. He was worn around the edges and allowed himself some rest after years of service. His hair was shaggier and his eyes lost some of their fierceness. Still, it was Sir Leon of Hateno. 

“It’s so good to see you after all this time,” he smiled at his son, “next time you need to warn someone in the castle of your departure. You’ll be punished for this.”

Link nodded solemnly, “know. Unplanned trip.”

Leon chuckled bittersweetly, “I want you to stay, but the letter demanded that you were to go back to the castle as soon as you were found.”

“Understand,” he headed out the door, no one stopping this time, “‘bye.”

“Bye, Link.” “...bye, brother.”

Link shut the door with a sigh and was faced with an immediate problem. His horse Chosen was at the castle and he had no idea where Wolfie was. It would take him days to trek back to the castle on foot. 

He messed with his hair nervously. He couldn’t grab a wild horse anywhere near Hateno, nor somehow contact Malanya to grant him a mount. He had to think of something. 

His eyes started to glow again and he groaned. It was his only way, but he didn’t know how to control it. 

He looked around, making sure no one was outside at that time of night. When he was sure it was safe, he attempted to teleport again. He thought back to how he felt as he was falling down the stairs and tried to pull from that. 

“Hylia,” he prayed in his mind, “I have no idea if you even have power over this, but please let me do this and have no time pass.”

No response. 

He didn’t expect anything different. Why was he even praying to a goddess of mortals. She had no reason to listen to him except for that he was her Hero. 

He ignored those thoughts and focused on his magic. He felt an emptiness start to form in his chest. He had no time to look down at what it was as he vanished in another puff of smoke. He wanted to cheer in victory as he felt himself land on a stone stairway, the same one he left, and it was still nighttime. 

Then there was a knife to his throat.

“Speak!” A cloaked figure had him trapped against the wall, “who and what are you?”

That might be a problem, Link gagged. The figure’s arm was crushing his wind pipe. 

Who had him? He had never seen this person in the castle before, and they were armed. Was it an assassin?

His eyes sparked at the threat of danger and kicked the figure in the stomach. They dropped him and him rolled down the stairs into the garden. The figure followed, slashing at him as they descended. 

Weapon, weapon! Link scrambled to find one. He left the Master Sword in his room when he went to practice his magic, something he would never do again. He guessed he had fight hand to knife combat.

He grabbed the figure’s hand and twisted, forcing them to drop the knife, and he flipped them. The figure landed on the ground with a satisfying thud, but they were ahead of him. Once landed, they spun around and kicked Link’s feet right from under him and he fell. 

He didn’t have time to stand before the figure placed their foot on his chest and leered at him from under their hood. Anytime he tried to move, the figure pushed harder and caused him more pain. 

“Speak, Yiga!” The figure demanded. 

Yiga? He glared, how dare he be compared to that clan. Wait, if this person wasn’t a Yiga assassin, who were they?

“Link,” he coughed out, “Hyrule’s Champion.”

“Prove yourself! The Hero does not speak and cannot appear as a Yiga can.”

You told me to speak! Link wanted to shout. He winced at the fact that he forgot the Yiga were famous for appearing to teleport, but they just threw some dust as a distraction and ran away. 

“Sword,” he decided, “my room, only I can hold it.”

The figure shook their head, “not good enough.”

He thought for a moment, “where Wolfie? He knows…”

“The mutt?” The figure tilted their head, “alright. I’ll call it and then we’ll see if it recognizes you or mauls you.”

They looked to the side and whistled. 

That’s not going to work, Link narrowed his eyes, Wolfie only responds to-

“Woof!” Weirdly enough, Wolfie materialized on the staircase and came running. He saw Link, slapped him on the head with his paw, and sat down calmly next to him.

“How?” Link looked up to the figure. 

The figure was presumably smirking, “looks like you’re alive, a shame.”

They removed their foot from Link’s chest and granted him a hand. He didn’t take it and got up on his own. 

“Sorry about that, Hero,” they apologized, not sounding too sorry. 

“Traitor,” Link growled to Wolfie before looking at the figure, “who’re you?”

The figure removed their hood, revealing a woman with mostly short white hair and a tattoo on her forehead. It was a Sheikah. 

“Impa,” the Sheikah bowed her head, “protector of the Royal Family.”

“‘ve never met?” Link was still defensive.

She laughed, “then I am doing my job. You thought you were the only one guarding the Princess? Cute.”

Wolfie leaned up against his leg, telling him that she was trustworthy. Link looked between the two, both of whom were keeping secrets. 

“Aw, yes, Wolfie,” Impa addressed, “he has been going crazy since you disappeared. If you are wondering why I can call him, let’s just say we have a history.”

Wolfie growled, but in a playful way. Impa rolled her eyes at the reaction. What was going on?

“Now, Hero,” she picked up her knife off the ground, “want to explain why no one has seen hide nor hair of you in the past days, and about the magic I just saw. Now that you can talk, you can tell me all about it.”

“Not your business,” he huffed. 

“It is,” she glared, “you being able to leave in and out of the castle without detection is a security risk. I need to know how you do it so I can make sure no one else can.”

“‘m not telling,” Link shook his head. 

“As you wish, Hero,” Impa moved closer to him and pat Wolfie, “I will just have to ask Wolfie here. He tells me everything I need to know.”

What? Sheikah could communicate with animals? He glanced at Wolfie, this couldn’t be true. 

Wolfie refused to look at him in return. Bastard. 

“Or I could find one of those colorful rabbits,” she hinted as she backed away, “they have the same aura as your magic. Did you know your eyes are glowing? Really should control that, Hero.”

She strutted away and whistled. Wolfie left Wild and followed her, looking back with an expression that said he was sorry. Link glared at him. 

“It is good to hear you talk,” she waved as she melded into the shadows that was the adjacent hallway, “keep this up and the Princess might start to hate you less.”

When Link would later encounter the King, he strangely wasn’t punished. Instead, he was congratulated for his great start of learning the Sheikah abilities, such as hiding in the shadows. He bowed in thanks, noticing the wink that Impa gave him from the rafters. 

He guess he had to be taught by her now. If it was anything like her personality, it would be hell. 

-

Wild woke up under some blankets. He sat up and looked around to see Zelda still reading downstairs. 

“Zelda?” He called and she looked up. 

“You’re awake, or back as I should say,” she sat down her book and ran upstairs, “you started remembering right in the doorway so I figured it was better if you were somewhere more comfortable for when you woke up.”

“Thank you,” he removed the covers and stretched. 

“So,” she asked inquisitively, “what did you remember?”

“Oh,” he answered, “Impa apparently knew Wolfie well enough that he would snitch on me being a god to her.”

“I didn’t know the two of them even met. Now, why are you back so soon? You told me you were going to try and talk to your parents.”

“I met them,” he smiled, “they were nice.”

Zelda agreed, “you took me to meet them once.”

“Really?” He perked up.

“You thought it would help me unlock my powers…it didn’t, but it was still lovely to meet them.”

Wild looked at her, “when did you find out, that I was a god?”

She blushed red, “it was an accident. A little after the Yiga attack in the desert, I started to question how you always seemed to be right behind me, even we I was alone, so…I might have watched you for a scientific hypotheses.”

Code for she stalked him to figure out what was going on.

“So what did your hypothesis conclude?” He leaned forward. 

“That either you were a demon or a child of one,” Zelda covered her face in embarrassment, “I did not calculate for a third answer.”

“A demon?” Wild laughed. 

“Don’t mock me,” she spat, “what was I supposed to think when your eyes started glowing and you could kill a whole hoard of monsters alone. Not to mention plants would spring up wherever you went and you had a seemingly immortal wolf.”

“When did it finally click? Did I tell you?”

“…not exactly,” she glanced down at the table where they would have dinner. She looked incredibly guilty. 

What did she do?

-

Link wanted to scream. They were visiting Dr. Purah when they overstayed their allotted time to be there. Night was fast approaching and the Hateno Inn was all out of space. That only left one option. 

“Princess?” Link told her, “it is unorthodox-“

“Done, yes!” She beamed, not even caring for the answer. She was so desperate for something new or out of the ordinary that she was ready for anything. 

Link smiled, it felt so good for her to finally be opened up to him again, and this time he returned the favor. 

“Let me finish,” he calmed her down, “my house is here and you will be guarded by me, I will stay outside on watch, and by my father. Sir Leon may be retired, but he can still fight.”

“Is it alright if we drop in unannounced?” She questioned. 

“Perfectly fine, Princess,” he began to lead the way, “that is if you are fine dealing with my sister. She asks a lot of questions.”

“I would love to meet her!” She grinned, “and I haven’t seen Sir Leon in years.”

Internally, she plotted. This could be the perfect time to find out what was with her knight. If his sister asked questions, good! So did she. 

Over the next couple of minutes, the two made it to Link’s house, introduced the Princess to Amaryll, and Link prepared dinner. 

“I didn’t know you were a chef,” the Princess teased. 

“What do you think I eat on our trips, Princess? I never dine with you.”

“I honestly thought you ate nothing at all,” she noticed the awkward chuckle he gave at that. 

“Your Highness?” Amaryll nervously walked up to her. 

“Just call me Zelda,” Zelda told her, “I am in your home, so no titles are necessary.”

The King would be having an aneurysm. 

“Okay, Zelda!” Amaryll bounced, “I wanted to ask you a question.”

Link rolled his eyes, “there she goes.”

She stuck her tongue out at him before calming down, “what’s it like to be courted.”

Link stopped stirring the pot of soup for a moment before continuing.

“Oh,” Zelda’s smile faulted a bit, but she soon returned to her cheery self, “it’s lovely! Merle is such a caring man.”

The news broke recently of how the Royal Bard Merle officially asked the King to begin the courting processions that could one day lead to marriage. The King accepted gladly, even though the Princess was not yet 17, and, for all intents and purposes, the Princess was engaged. 

And Link didn’t care one bit. He brought them together so that they would be happy, and happy they were. He was happy that they were happy. He was happy. 

If he kept repeating it maybe it would be true.

“I’ve never even dated before,” Amaryll sighed, “any guy in Hateno is too scared to ask me out.”

“Why is that?” Zelda took the change of subject quickly. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Merle potentially being her husband just yet. 

Amaryll glared at her brother, “because somebody keeps leaving a wolf guarding the place!”

Link shrugged, “more monsters have been appearing near here, Wolfie is taking my role when I can’t be here to protect the town. Also, if those boys you have your eye on are too afraid of him to ask you out, then they aren’t good enough for you.”

“Still,” she pouted, “it doesn’t help that they think Wolfie relays anything they do back to you.”

“What if you asked them out instead?” Zelda suggested, “take the initiative.”

“I didn’t think of that. I thought boys had to be the ones to ask out a girl.”

She waved away the thought, “traditions ought to be broken sometimes.”

Link finished the soup just in time for his father to call him over. Leon had been sitting quietly reading while his daughter talked with the Princess, but it seemed he had something important to discuss with his son. 

Zelda took her chance of when she thought Link wasn’t listening. She leaned down and whispered in Amaryll’s ear. 

“Is your brother, perhaps, adopted?” She asked, that was her first and crucial guess of his backstory. If he wasn’t adopted, then he had to be a normal Hylian. 

Amaryll looked at her with wide eyes, “how did you know?”

Success! 

“I was researching the Hero’s bloodline and some traits didn’t match up,” she lied, “do you know who his real parents are?”

“Uh,” Amaryll became nervous, glancing anywhere but at the Princess, “Link was here when I was born, so I never met his birth parents…”

“But do you know who they are?” Zelda urged. 

“I’m not supposed to say,” she admitted. 

“Not even when the Princess is asking?” It was a little underhanded, but she needed to know. 

Link resisted the urge to scream and pull Amaryll away, but that would reveal that he was eavesdropping and he trusted his sister not to say anything. Wait, what did his father just say?

He faced his father and listened to him talk about some issues regarding monster attacks from the sea. When he looked back at the two girls, he knew the secret was out. Zelda was staring at him with wide eyes.

“I-I have to go send a message ahead to the castle about where we are,” she stuttered and ran out of the house. 

“Princess, wait!” Link ran after her. 

Zelda didn’t know her away around Hateno, and that was obvious. After running across the bridge she made a left where she should’ve gone right if she was to find a mailman. She instead went to Firly Pond, a place that left her cornered as Link approached from behind her. 

“Princess, where are you going?” He asked as she turned away from him, grabbing her arms and closing herself off. 

“Leave me alone,” she snapped, her voice returned to the cold ways she used to treat her knight, “I don’t need your pity.”

“Pity?” He closed the distance between them, “look, I can explain.”

“You can explain how you have been mocking me the whole time?” She growled, “a god looking down on a mortal who struggles with her powers. How could you have gotten even more perfect!?”

“Princess, you don’t understand,” he pleaded. 

“I understand perfectly!” Zelda turned around and screamed at him, “you’re the reason Hylia doesn’t speak to me. You tell her to ignore me, is that it?”

“No-“

“Why do you even need the sword?” She interrupted, “can’t you just wish away the Calamity and everything would be fine-“

“HYLIA DOESN’T SPEAK TO ME!” 

Zelda stepped back at Link’s roar. He panted, he’d never spoke that loud before.

“What?” She asked softly. 

“I don’t hear Her either,” Link repeated, “do you think I would be so cruel as to tell her to ignore you? She’s been ignoring me too. The voice in the sword? I don’t hear it either. As for my powers…”

He stepped forward, “I may be a god, but I am still only 16. At most I can grow some plants, but I don’t control that. I am in the dark as much as you, Princess.”

It started to rain. The drops of water splashed into the pond, making the only noise as they both quieted down. 

“We should get inside,” he gestured for her to cross him, “wouldn’t want you to catch a cold. After this, we can go back to not talking to each other again. I’ll go back to being silent.”

“Link,” she regretted everything she just said, “I didn’t mean it-“

“Princess,” he gave her a stern look, “we both knew if I could hear Hylia you wouldn’t take back those words.”

“That’d be different,” she tried to defend herself. 

“How?” Link raised an eyebrow, “you wouldn’t believe me if I told you that I have done nothing but ask Hylia to give you your powers. You see the worst in others because you think they see the worst in you. Come inside, Princess.”

“Li-“

He raised a hand to silence her. If anyone else had done that at any other time, they would be exiled. 

“Come. Inside.”

Helplessly, the Princess listened. She had messed up. 

-

Wild wiped the tear away from his cheek and saw Zelda standing over him, also crying. 

“I am so sorry,” she cried, “I didn’t mean any of what I said, you have to believe me. You were right to hate me and the only reason you don’t now is because you forgot all the awful things I did.”

“Zelda?” He stood up and hugged her, “I don’t know the full picture, I can’t make any decisions about the version of me you knew. As the me of now, I forgive you.”

“I shouldn’t have pushed,” she shook her head, “it wasn’t my business and all I did was set our relationship back even farther.”

“Shh,” he directed her to sit next to him, “what happened after? We got better, didn’t we?”

She nodded slowly, “after awhile, we did, but you kept your word. You didn’t speak for another month and I never stopped trying to apologize. Even Merle tried to talk to you, he thought he could help you for some reason.”

Link didn’t say anything. Apparently Merle kept his word and never told her that it was him who gave him the silent princess. He wondered if Zelda knew if he was the one to make the species. Questions for another day, though.

“What happened to change this?” He asked. 

“We were going to Rito Village,” Zelda continued, “Revali discovered something odd at the bottom of the archery range and he wanted to show me, so we went, and-and…”

She couldn’t continue, he sobs were getting to her. Wild clung to her and she shook violently. It felt natural to protect her like this. 

He really hoped it didn’t happen often for muscle memory to kick in. 

-

Link and the Princess slowly trotted along on their horses. Chosen had taken to only going as fast as Zelda’s mount, and she was going particularly slow, so he could do nothing about it. Another reason why he hated this pure bred steed. 

The Princess was trying to look strong, sitting as tall as she could, and was looking straight ahead. She wasn’t fooling Link, who was purposely ignoring the concerned glances she threw back to him every couple minutes. 

“Rito Village,” her voice was shaky, “do you remember all those years ago when we were going there for the first time. There were other guards with us, though. I asked if you have ever been.”

He recalled. She also insulted him for not speaking and assumed that it was because he thought himself better than her. 

“You’ve been now, so,” she smiled, “what do you think of it?”

It was a beautiful place, but its inhabitants were something less than desired. Revali never let him forget his place as doormat to the Calamity.

“I’m sorry,” she deflated, “I wasn’t pleasant then. I never am.”

She was wrong. She was pleasant when she was herself and stopped worrying what others thought about her. 

“Link?” She took a sharp breath, telling him that something caught her attention, “what is going on there?”

She pointed to Satori Mountain, specifically the pond section. 

It was on fire. 

Smoke rose from the trees surrounding the lake and the cherry blossoms were smoldering in the air. 

Fear grew in Link’s heart and he reacted without thinking. He spurred Chosen into action against its will and ran to the mountain path without warning the Princess. 

“Link, it could be dangerous!” She warned. 

That was a better reaction that he could have hoped. She wasn’t mad that he was breaking his oath to always be protecting her by running off. He could hear Zelda push her horse to run behind him, but he didn’t look back.

He jumped off his horse once he made it high enough so it didn’t get hurt by the flames. He noticed that the fire was situated in the rocks and was spilling over into the pond, not necessarily started there. There were piles of leaves of a dry logs that were the source. 

He leaned down, looking at some scraps of the cloth that laid singed on the ground. Though burned, he could make out an emblem of an eye drawn out in blood. 

Yiga! He jumped up in time for two Yiga foot soldiers to reveal themselves from on top of the rock and descended onto where he used to be. 

“The Hero comes here often,” one of them swiped at him, “so we thought this would be the best place to lure him out.”

“We see you here more than your home,” the other kicked, “otherwise we would have attacked there. I’m glad we don’t have to kill your nice sister, but we will if we have to.”

Amaryll? Link pulled out his sword and slashed. The Yiga had been watching him, of course they had. 

“AHH!” He turned around at the Princess’ screams and saw a third Yiga knock her off her horse. The Yiga held her up by her hair and placed its sickle to the back of her neck. 

“Don’t move or the Princess gets it!” 

Link did as he was told and he felt something slice into his back. He dropped to the ground and his blood pooled onto the back of his boots. He now had a large gash spreading from his shoulders to his lower back. 

“Link!” The Princess called and directed her anger at the Yiga, “let me go!”

“A fighter in spirit and nothing else,” the Yiga teased, “this will be easier than killing your mother. But first, you’ll watch your precious knight die.”

“NO!” She stretched out her hand just to see as Link fell over, knife in his back.

The Princess screamed as Link moved no more, even the Master Sword beside him lost its shine. This was all her fault! If she didn’t yell at him then maybe he would’ve listened to her when she said it was dangerous. What was so great about this mountain that Link was willing to give his life for it?

“That was anticlimactic,” the Yiga who stabbed Link groaned, “I thought it would be more cool and epic!”

“We’ll embellish it when we get back to base,” the other assured, “say that he got up after being stabbed and then we pushed him into the fire.”

“The mission is only half complete,” the Yiga holding Zelda added, “you want the honors, Val? You’re the veteran here, you killing the Queen and all.”

“Gladly,” it was the Yiga who killed Link, “it’s poetic! I can’t believe I got to be the end to Hylia’s, excuse me, Her Grace’s bloodline and the Hero’s life.”

Zelda closed her eyes as she felt the sickle press down deeper into her neck. She winced as blood was spilt, but she knew it wouldn’t be the worse of it. At least she would see her mother again, and she could apologize to Link. 

“One for sorrow,” Val sung and counted the deaths they caused, “two for joy, three for a girl…”

Zelda could hear the metal scratching against the rocks. They wanted to make sure she heard and saw her death coming. 

Suddenly, a shriek! Zelda felt a body fall beside her and she opened up her eyes a tiny amount to see Val lying dead in front of her. The very same knife that they had to kill Link was in her chest. 

“What the-“ the Yiga holding Zelda started to gurgled before they too fell over. 

“How?” The third and final Yiga asked, but received no answer. Zelda never saw nor heard was happened to that one. 

She opened her eyes up fully to see Link. He was bloody, pale beyond compare, and was looking like a walking corpse, but it was him. He eyes were glowing brighter than they ever had been, she couldn’t make out any details like an iris or pupil, just pure blue. Even though he staggered, he gripped him sword tight. 

“Four for a boy,” he growled.

“L-Link?” The Princess stuttered, “you’re alive!”

He looked down at her and she shrunk back. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking and the glow made it look like he was glaring. 

She tried to moved, flinching at the pain in her neck. Look at her, barely being able to push against a small cut when Link was alive after a stab to the heart. 

Eventually she made it up and she saw Link’s back to her. He was stamping out the fire and walked forward. From this angle, she could see every inch of his back and how absolutely destroyed his tunic was. The stab wound was still open, but he acted like it was no problem. 

“Guys, are you okay?” From the Princess’ perspective she heard random animal noises, but Link was just communicating with his family. 

She stared in amazement as blue rabbits started appearing everywhere, most of which surrounded Link. He smiled and picked some of them up. 

“Little brother!” One chirped, “we’re okay. Dad’s still hiding, he’s getting weaker and weaker.”

Link frowned, “everyone needs to be on the lookout from now on. I’m going to visit less for a bit to draw the Yiga away from here.”

“What are these?” The Princess interrupted their conversation, “you can speak with them?”

“These are my brothers,” he didn’t look at her as he switched back to Hylian, “this is where I grew up.”

“That’s why you were so afraid,” she realized, “your home was being destroyed, your family…oh?”

She felt something tapping her boot. She looked down and saw a blupee looking up at her and twittering. 

“Hello?” She waved. 

Link smiled, “he wants you to pick him up. He says you smell like light magic. Greg was always a sucker for that kind of thing.”

“His name is Greg?” She picked up the blupee and felt how soft they were. They were really lovely.

Link sighed, he eyes started to glow a little softer and he became more sluggish, “I won’t apologize for running off, but I will apologize for failing my duty of keeping you from harm. I am sorry, Princess?”

“Keeping me-keep me safe?!” She wanted to shout, “are you dense? You almost died, you should be dead, and you’re worried about me? How are you not dead!?”

He chuckled, “sorry to disappoint. It is my job to protect the Princess, nothing more, nothing less. My own safety does not matter.”

“Then why did you run here for your family against my orders,” she sat down Greg and all the blupees ran away, “I don’t blame you for it, do not be confused about that, but it is not your job to leave me alone.”

“My job to the King is different from my job to myself,” Link sat down, he was starting to lose it, “do you know why I pulled the Master Sword?”

She shook her head.

“You and everyone else assumed that I heard the calling of the sword. My destiny awaited me and I had to claim it. That is not what happened. In reality, I could’ve cared less if the Calamity returned because I knew I could protect myself and my family and that was it. Then…”

His face fell, the glow going even dimmer. His iris was visible once more. 

“My mother died and I couldn’t do anything about it. I thought that if I pulled the Master Sword and became Hylia’s Champion, then I could hear Her. I could make Her listen and bring back my mother.

“You’ve been to my house, there’s only three chairs at the dining table.”

There was silence. She didn’t know what to say.

“All of this, everything,” he gritted his teeth, “has been for her. If not, it’s been for Amaryll, my brothers, the people I care for. I didn’t do this for some honorable reason, I’m not that selfless. In the wild, you do what you need to do to survive.”

“Well,” she found the courage to speak, “getting stabbed in the back is a mighty fine way to survive-sorry…when we get back to the castle, I will make a case to relieve you of your duty, if you wish.”

He shook his head, “as much as I haven’t shown it, I care for you too, Princess. You just need to be taught boundaries-“

“BOUND-“ she stopped herself, coughing, “you are right. Please, continue.”

He smirked, “you are conceited, a perfectionist, hypercritical, and you don’t know when to stop pushing.”

“You can stop now,” she whispered, half joking, half serious.

“But you are also alone, scared, confused, and you are doing your best under the circumstances. Others would have cracked under the pressure far worse than you have.”

She smiled weakly, “unlike you, you never crack.”

“Princess, I’m shattered. Why do you think I didn’t speak for four years? The last month even?”

The Princess felt so stupid, she wanted to slap herself. 

“Do you understand what you said was wrong?” Link interrupted her train of thought, “about assuming me hearing Hylia?”

She nodded, “I’ve regretted everything I’ve ever said to you about Her.”

“Will you try not to do it again?” A nod. “And do you promise, that even if you can’t unlock your sealing powers, you will still pursue studying the Sheikah artifacts?”

“What?”

“You are the reason the Divine Beasts are even running,” he smiled, “they are going to do a world of good against the Calamity. Not to mention those shrines once we have them unlocked. I still have my concerns about the guardians, though.”

“Yes,” she nodded fiercely, “I’ll make you proud.”

“Good, I forgive you,” he tilted his head, “why are you still crying?”

She didn’t even realize she started. 

“Because you almost died!” She shouted, “you still haven’t explained how you’re not. I though you died and that it was all my fault-“

She cupped her hand to her mouth and sobbed. Link stood up and hugged her in comfort as she cried. She would have to forgive him for the blood. 

As they hugged, Link’s eyes started to fade faster and faster. He reluctantly left the hug and made sure she was alright. Then, he put his fingers to his mouth and whistled.

“I am about to pass out from blood loss, Wolfie should have a fairy on him,” he said rather quickly, “just open the bottle.”

“Wait, what?!” Was the last thing he heard as he closed his eyes and slammed into the rocky surface. 

-

Wild found himself laying back in bed with Zelda asleep in his arms. Good, she needed sleep and he knew she didn’t have any at all last night. 

While he laid there, he thought about his memory. Even though he pushed it aside at the time, the stab wound was very painful and he could feel his shoulders ache from that. He only survived because Wolfie had a fairy on him in case something like that happened. If not for him, he would’ve been in the shrine a year sooner. 

But that seemed to be the defining final moment of their relationship 100 years ago. They found even footing and connected. He didn’t need to remember to know that they were going to grow closer. 

He stood up and looked out the window. It was noon, meaning the others definitely knew he was gone. He should start heading back. 

“Zelda,” he nudged her awake slightly to say goodbye, “I have to go.”

“Okay,” she mumbled, only a quarter awake, “‘m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he kissed her on the forehead, “I love you.”

“Love you, too…” she fell asleep again. 

Wild smiled as he left the house, proud of how far they came. Suck it, Merle.

Wild pulled out the Sheikah slate and was about to teleport to the nearest shrine to the stable when he thought about his powers. He needed to get better at them, so why not test them out this way. 

On the positive side, he knew where they were. He could pinpoint the exact place he was going and he just had to show up immediately, no time needed to pass. On the other hand, he could accidentally send himself ten years into the future with no way back. 

He shrugged, Hylia was actually paying attention to them now so she wouldn’t let that happened. 

He went to the shrine and went inside the elevator, not activating it, to practice with some privacy. He could do this! He was more confident now, more powerful if the silent princesses were anything to go by. All he had to do was-poof!

He didn’t know what he did, but it worked. Blue smoke filled his line of sight and cleared so he was at the stable. He appeared directly behind Time, who was looking into the stable. 

“I thought you said Wild was supposed to be back soon, Pup?” He said, clearly annoyed. 

“Uh, boo!” Wild shrieked and startled Time. He jumped and spun around quicker than Warriors when he saw Time’s skeleton mask. 

“What’s got you spooked, Old Man?” Legend walked out, “oh, hey, Wild.”

Time let out a puff air, “was that necessary?”

“No,” Wild grinned, “I saw an opportunity and took it. I’ve never seen you scared like that.”

“Don’t do it again,” he glared, thinking back on all those times skulltullas jumped out at him as a kid. 

“Yes, Time.”

“Cub!” Wolfie came out of the stable with open arms, “you find what you were looking for?”

“Yeah,” he smiled. 

“So,” Legend leaned against the building, “what now? I have been bored for the past three days of doing nothing but walking and watching you pass out. I swear if this goes on for a fourth-“

Wolfie smacked him, “relax. Cub, do you have anything else you have to do?”

He shook his head, “I’ve talked to everyone I’ve needed to. We can get back to the mission now.”

“Excellent!” Legend shouted inside, “the b-plot is done, get over here!”

“Finally!” “Took long enough.” “Guys, that’s rude.”

All the Links trudged out, weapons ready. They really were bored. 

“I-Wolfie scouted ahead,” Wolfie grinned at Twilight, still in wolf form, “and there are silver and some gold monsters gathering in Hyrule Field.”

“Do they have the malice marks?” Wild asked. 

He nodded, “and they are worse than we’ve seen.”

“We?” Warriors commented, “we’ve never seen a silver or gold monster of Wild’s. How do you know about them?”

Wolfie looked nervous, “I scout ahead a lot, and I’ve read Wild’s compendium.”

“Smooth,” Four mouthed at him. 

“Shut up,” Wolfie mouthed back.

“You guys ready to head out?” Wild changed the subject before Wolfie was mauled by Twilight. 

A chorus of yeses occurred and they all saddled up. Hyrule Field would be their shortest trek yet, it being only a bridge away. All of Wild’s horses were semi-fast, so they made it in two hours to where the monsters were spawning. 

“That is a lot,” Wild noted. There wasn’t just the bokoblins that usually lived there, but lizalfos too. 

“Twilight?” Hyrule looked at Wolfie, “where’s your weapons?”

Wolfie swore and tried to cover up his mistake, “must’ve left them with the horses, my bad. You guys go on ahead and I’ll provide backup.”

“Nice going, Twi,” Legend huffed and he and Warriors split off. Sky went with Hyrule and Wind partnered with Four. Time went in alone. Wild was their archer and Twilight and Wolfie sped away for a safe space to switch. The battle started.

The battle was chaotic, but which of theirs wasn’t? It was also one of the most annoying. The monsters both hit hard and could take hits in return, meaning the Links had to dance around them to attack. 

Wild shot a golden lizalfos with an ancient arrow that was away from everyone when Twilight came out to him. He looked annoyed at having to pretend to be a dog for the past day. 

“Where’s Wolfie?” Wild looked around, not seeing any sign of him, human or otherwise. 

Twilight grumbled, “he said he needed to stay back for this battle. Something about how I’ll understand in the future.”

“This is retroactive karma,” Wild knocked another arrow. 

“I know,” he took out his sword, “he said thanks for letting him see everyone again. Especially our-especially Time.”

“You two keep slipping up on saying Time’s name,” he fired, “anything I should know about?”

Twilight punched him playfully, “shut up. You get to meet your dads, I can think of Time as mine.”

“Fair enough.”

Twilight launched into battle with a war cry, running to help Time, who was surrounded by gold bokoblins. Wild continued to fire and everyone continued to battle, but it was like they just kept coming. It was also as if the hoard was pushing them away from the field, circling closer and closer. 

It wasn’t until a few monsters were right on him that Wild realized they were coming for him. He should’ve known, every time there was a convergence like this they targeting one of the Links. 

He discarded the bow and pulled out a sword to start slashing. He grunted as some got scratches in. A lizalfos at one point hit him straight in the neck with some water. 

“I will place a bomb if I have to!” Wild screamed. He had a fairy, it wouldn’t be too bad. It would be better than being mobbed by monsters. 

“Cub, look out!” He turned to see Twilight jump behind him, taking a direct hit from a moblin that somehow managed to sneak up on him. 

“Twilight!” Wild didn’t care anymore. He grabbed an ancient arrow and started using it has a knife. It didn’t dissolve the monsters, but it cut cleanly through them like butter. He managed to get enough off of him to kill the moblin and see how Twilight was doing.

“Ow,” Twilight hissed, some of the moblin’s club stayed in his body and it tore through his side, pushing deeper into the wound. It looked bad, with some of skin completely ripped away, and he was losing blood fast. “Remind me to apologize for scolding you for jumping in front of Wind.” 

“Now is not the time for jokes!” Wild gritted his teeth and search his slate for the fairy, “why’d you do that?”

“Wolfie rubbed off on me,” he smiled, “we had a conversation about you last night.”

“About how I was a nuisance to raise, I know,” Wild couldn’t find the fairy. Where was it? He sorted the slate’s inventory, but it was still nowhere to be found. Did he accidentally use it?

“No,” Twilight shook his head, “he said the opposite actually. That he didn’t regret a second of it and that he wouldn’t change anything. That’s why he’s not here right now.”

What? Wild bolted his head up and saw Wolfie in human form, sitting on Twilight’s Epona, hiding in the shadows of the plateau. He had a sad expression on his face, he knew what was about to happen. 

“No, no, no, no!” Wild mumbled, where was the fairy? Where was the fairy?!

“Cub, hey,” Twilight started to close his eyes, “it’s alright. It’ll be okay.”

“No!” Wild chucked the slate away and gripped the ground, “you are going to be okay.”

“I am,” he agreed before not moving again.

No. He stared at Twilight’s blank face. No!

“Get up!” He shook his body, “you can’t take a hit and then not bounce back. You can’t do this!”

His body locked up. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Not now, not now! Twilight!

-

The sky was red, the wind was blowing, the ground was shaking. Link was running as fast as he could, dragging the Princess behind him. They were fleeing the castle after the Calamity…how could their plan go so wrong?

“Wolfie?” He called, “Wolfie, where are you, boy?!”

A bark and the wolf burst through a destroyed ruins of a house. He tried not think about who lived there. 

“Wolfie,” he pointed to the northern bridge, it was risky, but their only option to help the evacuating soldiers, “go help the citadel, the guardians are heading there now and they are not prepared. We’ll go to Kakariko and regroup later.”

A whimper. 

“There’s no time!” Link shouted, “go!”

Wolfie gave him one last look, before fleeing in the direction he pointed. 

Love ya, buddy, he thought in his head as he kept running.

The guardians fired over their heads, just nearly missing them. One would hit their mark eventually, he needed to get the Princess to shelter before then. If they could just make it to the trees. 

“Look out!” Suddenly, someone pushed him to the ground as a laser shot at the point where he was standing. He heard Zelda scream. 

“Merle!”

He got up and saw that it was indeed the bard who saved his life, and possibly doomed his. The beam had hit him in the shoulder and his arm and part of his back was fully singed or partially missing. It was a miracle that he still had his eyes open. What was he still doing here?

“Princess, run!” Link demanded. 

“But-“

“I’ll meet you in the forest,” he assessed the damage, “I’ll take care of Merle.”

She scampered off and Merle watched her go. Link ripped off some of his tunic and used it to cover what little blood there way. The laser saw to it that he was as good as tar. 

“That was stupid,” Link commented, “why’d you do it?”

“No thank you?” Merle smiled weakly, “probably for the same reason you gave me the silent princess.”

What? He was talking about that now of all times?

“I don’t know what you mean,” he tried to move past it, “this is really bad, Merle.”

With his good hand, Merle touched his shoulder, “you make her happy.”

“Merle, if this is about-“

“Let me finish,” he interrupted, “I’m not living. It is the Sheikah way to die for the crown, and I haven’t been much of a Sheikah, so let me have this. I don’t blame you for Zelda saying no to my proposal, all I wanted was what was best for her.”

The sounds of guardians were getting nearer, they were searching for lower targets. 

“I really don’t thin-“

“I saw you two, after you visited Rito Village,” he ignored him, “you went from not talking to each other to being best friends, maybe even more. I won’t lie, I envied you, but she was smiling. She has the most beautiful smile.”

“Yeah,” Link got serious, “you are going to be alright. You can’t take a hit and then not bounce back. In music, don’t you have to complete a melody? I don’t hear your song.”

“You will. They are some of my best written, about the Hero who will save us all. I’ve written a diary, it’s in Kakariko, I want it to be passed down for others to play and learn from. It has been an honor, Sir Link.”

Merle closed his eyes. 

He didn’t have time to grieve. He ran from the field, dodging the guardians and running to Zelda, who watched the whole thing from the tree line. 

-

“Wild, Twilight, you need to move!” Four shouted in distressed. 

He came back to senses, still hovering over Twilight’s dead body. Did none of them realize what had happened?

He tried to ignore the battle for a little while later. There had to be away to bring him back! He had lost so many people, the Champions, Merle, he never found out what happened to his family, his mother, he couldn’t lose Twilight. 

“It’ll be okay,” he had said. Wild was far from okay. 

He looked to the sky, Hylia, if you are listening now, please, bring him back. 

No response. 

“Hylia!” Wild cried, “you can’t go silent again, never again! He is a Hylian, he is under your control. Bring. Him. Back!”

No- a response. 

“He is not under mine, God of the Wild,” her familiar voice from the statues sang through his ears, “he is under yours.”

“What?” He asked, “what do you mean?”

“A beast, a divine beast,” Hylia replied, “one the runs free, just like you.”

“I can save him, because he’s a wild animal?” He smiled hopefully. 

“No,” she shut him down, “you can save him, because you are...”

Time stood still. 

-

Link was tired from running. The Princess was at his back, the guardians surrounded him. He fought through them, but even the Master Sword was losing its lusted. He had been hit multiple times and he was only standing thanks to his powers. His eye were glowing once more, but they quickly dimmed. 

“...H....er....o,” a voice rasped in his brain, he couldn’t look for the source and it seemed to come from everywhere, “...g...od....her...o.”

“Who are you?” He thought. 

The voice cackled, which sounded like a blade on stone, “..many...names.... Ca...lami...ty....Ganon.”

Ganon! He barely missed killing that last guardian. He need to focus. The Calamity continued to laugh. 

“...pity,” it commented, “...never...before... you... a god...yet...weak.”

Don’t take the bait, he told himself, just hold out a little longer. If you fall, Hateno falls, your sister...

“...what...god...are you?” The Calamity asked.

Don’t respond, keep fighting. This must have been what Hylia had been doing, keeping this demon at bay from wherever it came from. 

“....god...of...cowards?” It asked, “...god of... failures?”

“God of the Wild,” he grunted, that’s what his parents called him. 

“...no,” it disagreed, “...the wild...is unkempt... unlike you...you listen...to another... god..Hylia?”

“I listen to myself,” Link killed another machine, he could Zelda pleading with him to run. 

Another cackle, “...then I....know...what you... are...guess?”

He was done playing these games. His was losing power quickly, any moment now he could wind up-

“...d...e...a...d...” it space out the sounds, “....you are...god of the....dead...just like you...are about...to be...”

Link stabbed his sword in the ground, he had a few seconds of rest before more guardians came. He shook his head, he was the god of the wild.

“....the dying wild...maybe,” the Calamity said, “...after all...all you do...is kill...”

“Link,” Zelda touched him gingerly, “you need to go.”

“...do as your goddess says...or die...”

“AHH!” He lifted his sword on final time. 

-

“I’m...” he breathed again as time moved forward. Hylia had granted him that one memory. 

“The God of the Wild and the Dead,” Hylia finished his sentence, “you see, the Hero of Twilight and your mother were never under my domain.”

“How-I can’t control my powers!” How was he supposed to control powers he didn’t even know he had. And his mother…there was something he could have done after all. 

“I cannot help anymore,” Hylia’s voice faded away and he was left alone.

“Twilight,” he looked at Wolfie in the distance, he was still there. He could do this, Wolfie was living, or dead proof. “This is going to be weird to say, but don’t go into the light. Dive head first into the twilight if it means coming back. Please!”

He tried to call on his powers once more, to bring back that empty feeling in his chest. He thought about all the spirits he had seen, it must’ve been a part of his heritage, how did he call on the champions?

It wasn’t working! He couldn’t bring back the dead on command! If only he could reach Twilight’s spirit, then maybe he could anchor it back to Hyrule with…something. 

With renewed strength, Wild tried again, then time not looking within him, but around him. He sensed the air for any lingering trace of Twilight. There! He reached for it and grabbed it, pulling it down. 

“Almost there!” He grunted and he could feel all of his energy draining into bringing Twilight back. It was then when he looked inward, grabbing a piece of his very alive soul and giving it to Twilight. He wouldn’t leave to the afterlife for a while if a bit of him was still alive. 

Finally, he did it! He slammed into the ground and Twilight’s body started to move. He shot up, taking a deep breath in. Wild would’ve jumped for joy if not for the fact that he couldn’t move. 

“Hey,” Wild laughed weakly, “you look like death.”

“That-that was terrible,” Twilight coughed and looked down at his injury, which was starting to heal over at a rapid pace, “is this your doing?”

Wild shook his head, “I think it’s clear that I can’t heal without help.”

“Huh,” Twilight smiled, “look’s like someone’s looking out for me besides you, then.”

“Yeah.” Thanks Hylia. 

“What were you guys doing?” Legend shouted at them as the group walked over, tired from the battle, “picking daises?” 

“More like pushing up daisies,” Twilight laid down next to Wild, he still didn’t feel too perfect. 

“I told you two to move!” Four glared, “why didn’t you.”

“Give me a break,” he close rolled his eyes, “I just died. Did no one see that? Oh, Hylia, is this what caused future me to become so sarcastic?”

“Future you?”

“40 rupees, Four!” Wild smirked before passing out.

Wild woke up days later with a wolf on his lap. At that point, he didn’t care which wolf it was, future or past Twilight, he was just glad to have some company. It looked like the Links dragged him back to Hateno while he was passed out. 

The wolf realized he was awake and barked. At the sound of the noise, everyone who was downstairs came running up. 

“Wild!” Six Links cheered. 

“Hey, guys,” he noticed Time and Twilight were missing, “what happened?”

“What happened is that you can bring back the dead at the cost of your soul,” Warriors crossed his arms, “thank you for saving Twilight, but for Hylia’s sake just carry a fairy or a potion.”

“Never do that again,” Sky agreed, “Fi said she saw your soul empty completely of all magic for a while.”

“This one here,” Four pointed to the wolf, “explained what happened, since Twilight passed out soon after you. He woke up a day ago, though, and he’s outside with Time to make sure there are no lasting affects.”

So this was Wolfie, Wild scratched the wolf’s head. 

“Where’s Zelda?” He didn’t see her. 

“Her, along with some child,” Four continued, “are cataloging Twilight for ‘science’ or something. It seems you’ve been replaced as their resident undead person.”

“Oh, no, the shame,” Wild laughed, “sorry for scaring you guys.”

“It’s okay,” Hyrule told him, “but never, ever do that again.”

“You have already said that.”

“It bares repeating. A lot.”

Then soon left him mostly alone, coming up every once in a while to give him something like food or water, which he gladly took. Zelda and Twilight came in to tell him that so far nothing adverse was happening to him. 

“For now at least,” Purah added, “eventually his body will die like anyone else and then the fun part happens! I better get an invite to your death, Mr. Linky 2!”

“Just study Wolfie,” Twilight backed away, “he’s me, but dead.”

The wolf shook his head, causing Wild to smile. 

He was left alone again, even Wolfie leaving to go downstairs. He needed rest, they insisted. Still, he couldn’t stop thinking about what Hylia said. As the god of the dead, he could reach his mother. He could bring her back. 

He thought it over, he would need a lot more practice to be able to bring people back without digging into his own soul, which he was never going to do again. There was also the problem of it being over 100 years since Lady Eliza passed. If she were to come back, she would arrive in a destroyed land with no surviving relatives except for an adopted son who happened to be a god. He just wish he could have seen her one last time.

Wild glanced downstairs where everyone was chatting at the the frames for the champion weapons. Next to Mipha’s trident was his zora tunic, hung up to honor her memory. He focused on the piece of luminous stone that was embedded onto the waist and collar. He recalled what the Sheikah Slate said about that mineral, how it held the souls of the dead. 

It was stupid, but after the week he had, it was worth checking out. 

When he was sure no one was coming to bother him anytime soon, Wild quietly teleported away. He didn’t go far, so it was hard and he didn’t strain himself, just to the tunnel that near his house and filled with luminous stones. 

It was nighttime and the cave was glowing a mix of green and blue. He thought back to what Wolfie told him, how anything that glowed in Hyrule could’ve been made by him. He wondered if he made these. He would ask later. 

He struck a piece off one of the large chucks of the stone and looked at it. If he could channel his powers through it, just to see her, he didn’t even need to talk. 

He sat on the ground. One more miracle was all he was asking for, if he wasn’t being too selfish. 

Slowly, the glow around him spread and grew brighter. He could feel himself smiling as a woman’s voice echoed and he remembered her face. 

“Hello, Son.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please do not ask me how Malanya and Satori had a child, just assume magic.


End file.
